Web page creation supporting system, Web page creation supporting apparatus, Web page creation supporting method, computer program, and record medium

ABSTRACT

A Web page creation support system includes a customer terminal unit ( 300 ), a Web page creation support server ( 100 ) which is accessible from the customer terminal unit ( 300 ) via a network, and a creator terminal unit ( 400 ) for performing a Web page creation job. The Web page creation support server ( 100 ) controls Web page information of the customer terminal unit ( 300 ) in relation to template information. The server can cause the creator terminal unit ( 400 ) to create the Web page information in response to a creation request from the customer terminal unit ( 300 ) in accordance with the template information, thereby providing an environment in which Web page creation can be easily carried out on the network.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present invention relates to a Web page creation support system andso forth that can support the work of an individual or businessenterprise on a network such as the Internet to set up a Web page and toupdate the content of the page.

BACKGROUND ART

In recent years, with the explosive increase in the number of peopleusing the Internet, demands originating from business enterprises orindividuals are increasing rapidly for setting up Web pages, and linkingthem to the WWW (World Wide Web) to disseminate and collect variousinformation.

However, in order to set up Web pages, in addition to having specializedknowledge of Internet-related technology such as hypertext, it isnecessary to create Web page content, that is, the information includedon a Web page, and perform various additional operations such asdesigning Web pages, and as a result, every user accessible to theInternet cannot always set up Web pages as desired.

Also, various kinds of Web page creation support software for creatingWeb pages visually without the need to be aware of the technical aspectssuch as a structure of hypertext are widely used. However, in order touse Web page creation support software, some knowledge of computers andthe Internet, etc. is required, thus every Internet user cannot yetfreely use Web page creation support software.

Furthermore, even for an individual who knows how to create Web pages,or a business enterprise employing such a person, it is often difficultto assign the personnel exclusively to creating Web pages, which is notthe aim of enterprise activity from the point of human cost vs. itseffect.

Under these situations, in recent years, so-called Web page creationcontract business which creates Web pages on behalf of individuals orbusiness enterprises that want to set up Web pages in accordance withtheir taste and requests have been in the limelight.

However, Web page creation is complicated even in the case of using aWeb page creation contractor as described above. This means that the Webpage creation requester (hereinafter, referred to as a customer) and aWeb page creator (hereinafter, referred to as a creator) communicatedirectly or indirectly via telephone or e-mail, and the work proceedssuch that the creator creates Web pages stepwise in accordance with thecustomer's demands.

In doing so, in order to create high-quality Web pages, it is necessaryto carry out a process in which a customer and creator talk each other,and the creator creates Web pages, and then the customer gives back thefeedback. Besides, this process needs to be repeated for several timesuntil the both sides are content. Consequently, it takes a lot of timefor the Web pages to be completed, thus the creation administrative costis added to the creation cost, which is the minimum cost needed forcreating Web pages. This becomes the factor boosting up the final costfor creating Web pages.

Also, sales activities are indispensable if a Web page creationcontractor is to carry on business continuously, but the sales depend onhuman power. Specifically, a sales personnel (often in charge of acreator as well) needs to communicate customers directly or indirectly,and to receive Web page creation orders from customers continuously,thus the cost required for these sales activities is added as sales costto the creation cost of Web pages, and thus becomes the factor boostingup the final cost additionally for creating Web pages.

The present invention is made in order to overcome the above-describedand other problems of the conventional technology.

In this regard, in this specification, a “customer” merely represents anindividual person or business enterprise representing a requester of Webpage creation. Similarly, in this specification, a “creator” merelyrepresents an individual person or business enterprise representing acreator of Web pages. Particularly, in this specification, when using aterm “customer terminal unit” or “creator terminal unit”, in conjunctionwith the elements constituting the present invention, the termrepresents a terminal unit such as a computer capable of networkconnection and having functions as a client of the Web page creationsupport unit which is used by a “customer” or “creator”.

DISCLOSURE OF INVENTION

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provideda Web page creation support system including: a customer terminal unit;a Web page creation support unit which is accessible from the customerterminal unit via a network; and a creator terminal unit which performsa Web page creation job, wherein the Web page creation support unitcontrols Web page information of the customer terminal unit inconnection with template information, and causes the creator terminalunit to perform creation of the Web page information in response to therequest from the customer terminal unit.

In this manner, according to the present invention, Web page informationis controlled in connection with template information, thus creation ofWeb page information can be easily performed on the network inaccordance with the template information.

Here, “customer terminal unit” is defined as a client havingauthenticated qualifications to use a Web page creation support serviceamong the clients accessing the Web page creation support unit via anetwork. Therefore, in general, it is a computer having the functions asa client, namely, communications function and browsing function.However, it also includes household electric appliances and mobileterminal devices.

A “network” is the communications network capable of bilateralcommunications of information such as the Internet being connected viapublic line network and the like, or intranet being connected via LANand the like, and it does not matter whether the network is wired orwireless.

A “Web page creation support unit” is a computer system constituting aWWW server providing a customer terminal unit and other clients with Webpage creation support services.

A “Web page information” is information (contents) such as text, image,voice, video that is defined by HTML (Hypertext Markup Language) andother languages available on the Web, and stored on the Web server so asto be accessible by a client via a network using browsing software suchas a browser.

A “creator terminal unit” is connected to the Web page creation supportunit via a network, and is provided as a sub-server providing a servicewhich actually creates the Web page requested from the customer terminalunit and delivers the Web page to the customer terminal unit via the Webpage creation support unit. Therefore, in general, it is a computerhaving functions as a communication function, an HTML editing functionfor creating a Web page, a creating and editing function of variouskinds of image files and so on.

“Web page information update” means a change, an addition or a deletionof the entire or a part of the Web page information which is controlledby the Web page creation support unit.

“Template information” is the information that determines the style of aWeb page, and the template information includes, for example, designinformation to determine frame design of a Web page, item informationabout page items to display as Web pages, and item contents informationthat is specific contents to be displayed on each page item.

The Web page information is preferably controlled corresponding to a jobnumber which is assigned to each previous creation job of the Web pageinformation.

In this regard, a Web page can be created by embedding materialsselected by the customer terminal unit directly into the templateinformation, so that the system may be configured without the creatorterminal unit.

The Web page creation support unit may be configured such that quotationinformation indicating a Web page creation cost is generated inaccordance with the template information which is created by thecustomer terminal unit. With this arrangement, it is possible for thecustomer terminal unit to know the necessary cost of the Web pagecreation in advance, and to create the Web pages within the budget, thusa subsequent conflict in terms of budget can be prevented.

The Web page creation support unit may be formed such that a job controlpart which controls a series of job regarding the creation of the Webpage information in response to the Web page information creationrequest from the customer terminal unit may be established for eachorder, and the progress status of each Web page creation job can becontrolled via a job control part. With this arrangement, the Web pagecreation project is controlled via the job control part, which is avirtual control space, and the progress status of the creation job canbe more precisely controlled.

Here, a “job” is a process regarding the Web page which is created bythe creator terminal unit in receipt of the request from the client, andis controlled in the Web page creation support unit. The “job” is alsocalled as a project in this specification.

The “job control part” is also called as a “job room” in thisspecification, and is a virtual control space built corresponding toeach project in the Web page creation support unit.

The customer terminal unit is preferably configured to upload and/ordownload information regarding the Web page information creation via thejob control part. Also, the creator terminal unit is preferablyconfigured to upload and/or download information regarding the Web pageinformation update via the job control part.

Further, the progress status of creation job is preferably configured tobe reported to the customer terminal unit and/or the creator terminalunit by E-mail.

Also, according to another aspect of the present invention, the Web pagecreation support unit stores template information of a Web page andsample image information corresponding to the template information, andsends the template information and the sample image information, whichis selected by the customer terminal unit, to the customer terminalunit. At the same time, the customer terminal unit selects a desiredtemplate information from the template information selection screenwhich prompts selection of the template information stored in the Webpage creation support unit, and receives, from the Web page creationsupport unit, the sample image information corresponding to the selecteddesired template information, thus display of the preview screen can bepossible based on the sample image information.

Here, the template information includes information which forms thepreview screen to be displayed on the customer terminal unit using thesample image information corresponding to the template information.

Furthermore, according to another aspect of the present invention, theWeb page creation support unit stores the template information of Webpages, performs quotation processing of a Web page creation cost basedon the template information selected by the customer terminal unit, andsends the quotation information which is generated by the quotationprocessing. At the same time, the customer terminal unit selects adesired template information from the template information selectionscreen which prompts selection of the template information stored in theWeb page creation support unit, and receives the quotation informationfrom the Web page creation support unit, thus the received quotationinformation can be displayed.

Further, according to another aspect of the present invention, the Webpage creation support unit registers the customer information sent fromthe customer terminal unit and at the same time controls theinformation. When temporarily order-receiving a Web page creationrequest from the customer terminal unit, the Web page creation supportunit performs credit checking of the customer information on the creditunit, and actually receives the order of the Web page creation requestin accordance with the credit checking result of the credit inquiry. Atthis time, when receiving a credit inquiry from the Web page creationsupport unit, the credit unit performs credit checking, and informs theWeb page creation support unit of the credit checking result of thecredit checking.

Furthermore, according to another aspect of the present invention, theWeb page creation support unit stores information about creators, has afunction to select the creator terminal unit suited to the ordercondition imposed from the customer terminal unit for the Web pagecreation, and can allow a different creator terminal unit to perform theWeb page creation according to the order condition.

Further, according to another aspect of the present invention, whenreceiving the order of a Web page creation request from the customerterminal unit, the Web page creation support unit establishes a jobcontrol part which controls the progress status of each Web pagecreation job in the customer terminal unit, the creator terminal unit,and the Web page creation support unit. By this means, the customerterminal unit uploads and/or downloads the information regarding the Webpage creation to/from the job control part, and the creator terminalunit uploads and/or downloads the information regarding the Web pagecreation to/from the job control part.

Furthermore, according to another aspect of the present invention, inthe Web page creation support unit, by controlling the progress statusof each Web page creation job in the customer terminal unit, the creatorterminal unit and the Web page creation support unit, the messagecorresponding to the status change of the Web page creation job isinformed to the customer terminal unit and/or the creator terminal unit.

Further, according to another aspect of the present invention, the Webpage creation support unit stores the Web page information created bythe order receiving from the customer terminal unit in connection withthe template information, and controls the Web page update based on theupdated template information by the update request from the customerterminal unit to the creator terminal unit.

Furthermore, according to another aspect of the present invention, theWeb page creation support unit stores the Web page template information,and by controlling the Web page creation in accordance with the templateinformation for the creator terminal unit on the basis of theorder-receiving from the customer terminal unit, the Web page is guidedto option providing unit regarding the Web page in response to therequest of the customer terminal unit. By this means, the Web pagecreation support unit can provide option services regarding the Web pageto the customer terminal unit.

In this regard, the function configuration of the component parts of thepresent invention defined here are applied to the component parts ofanother invention unless otherwise mentioned.

Further, according to another aspect of the present invention, there isprovided a Web page creation support unit which controls Web pageinformation of a customer terminal unit accessible via a network inconnection with template information, and allows a creator terminal unitto perform a Web page creation job in accordance with the creationrequest from the customer terminal unit.

Furthermore, according to another aspect of the present invention, thereis provided a computer program and a recording medium which stores thecomputer program in order to function a computer as the Web pagecreation support server described above.

Further, according to another aspect of the present invention, there isprovided a Web page creation support method in which a Web page creationsupport unit stores Web page information of a customer terminal unitaccessible via a network in connection with template information, andallows a creator terminal unit to perform a Web page creation job inaccordance with a creation request from the customer terminal unit.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating the configuration of a Web pagecreation support system according to an embodiment of the presentinvention.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating the configuration of the Web pagecreation support server in a Web page creation support system accordingto an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram illustrating the configuration of the orderprocessing part of the Web page creation support server in a Web pagecreation support system according to an embodiment of the presentinvention.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram illustrating the configuration of the optionservice processing part of the Web page creation support server and theoption service providing server in a Web page creation support systemaccording to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a block diagram illustrating the configuration of the creditprocessing part and the credit server of the Web page creation supportserver in a Web page creation support system according to an embodimentof the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a block diagram illustrating the configuration of the projectcontrol part of the Web page creation support server in a Web pagecreation support system according to an embodiment of the presentinvention.

FIG. 7 is a block diagram illustrating the configuration of the updateprocessing part of the Web page creation support server in a Web pagecreation support system according to an embodiment of the presentinvention.

FIG. 8 is a block diagram illustrating the configuration of the otherinformation processing/control part of the Web page creation supportserver in a Web page creation support system according to an embodimentof the present invention.

FIG. 9 is a block diagram illustrating the configuration of the templateinformation database on the Web page creation support server in a Webpage creation support system according to an embodiment of the presentinvention.

FIG. 10 is a block diagram illustrating the configuration of thecustomer information database on the Web page creation support server ina Web page creation support system according to an embodiment of thepresent invention.

FIG. 11 is a block diagram illustrating the configuration of the projectinformation database on the Web page creation support server in a Webpage creation support system according to an embodiment of the presentinvention.

FIG. 12 is a block diagram illustrating the configuration of the creatorinformation database on the Web page creation support server in a Webpage creation support system according to an embodiment of the presentinvention.

FIG. 13 is a flowchart illustrating the flow of the Web page creationsupport service processing in a Web page creation support systemaccording to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 14 is a flowchart illustrating the flow of the creator informationregistration in a Web page creation support system according to anembodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 15 is a flowchart illustrating the flow of the customer informationregistration in a Web page creation support system according to anembodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 16 is a flowchart illustrating the flow of the quotation andordering processing in a Web page creation support system according toan embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 17 is a flowchart illustrating the flow of the quotation andordering processing in a Web page creation support system according toan embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 18 is a flowchart illustrating the flow of the option serviceselection in a Web page creation support system according to anembodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 19 is an illustration showing the screen structure example of theoption service selection in a Web page creation support system accordingto an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 20 is an illustration showing the screen structure example of theoption service selection in a Web page creation support system accordingto an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 21 is an illustration showing the screen structure example of theoption service selection in a Web page creation support system accordingto an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 22 is an illustration showing the screen structure example of theoption service selection in a Web page creation support system accordingto an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 23 is an illustration showing the screen structure example of theoption service selection in a Web page creation support system accordingto an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 24 is an illustration showing the screen structure example of theoption service selection in a Web page creation support system accordingto an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 25 is an illustration showing the screen structure example of theoption service selection in a Web page creation support system accordingto an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 26 is a flowchart illustrating the flow of the preview screenprocessing in a Web page creation support system according to anembodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 27 is an illustration showing a preview image by the preview screenprocessing in a Web page creation support system according to anembodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 28 is an illustration showing a preview image by the preview screenprocessing in a Web page creation support system according to anembodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 29 is an illustration showing a preview image by the preview screenprocessing in a Web page creation support system according to anembodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 30 is an illustration showing a preview image by the preview screenprocessing in a Web page creation support system according to anembodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 31 is a flowchart illustrating the flow of the Web page creationjob in a Web page creation support system according to an embodiment ofthe present invention.

FIG. 32 is a flowchart illustrating the flow of the staffing processingin a Web page creation support system according to an embodiment of thepresent invention.

FIG. 33 is a flowchart illustrating the flow of the electronic mailissuing processing in a Web page creation support system according to anembodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 34 is a flowchart illustrating the flow of the update processing ina Web page creation support system according to an embodiment of thepresent invention.

FIG. 35 is an illustration showing the screen structure example of theupdate processing in a Web page creation support system according to anembodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 36 is an illustration showing a browser display screen of the siteproviding a Web page creation support service according to an embodimentof the present invention.

FIG. 37 is an illustration showing a browser display screen of the siteproviding a Web page creation support service according to an embodimentof the present invention.

FIG. 38 is an illustration showing a browser display screen of the siteproviding a Web page creation support service according to an embodimentof the present invention.

FIG. 39 is an illustration showing a browser display screen of the siteproviding a Web page creation support service according to an embodimentof the present invention.

FIG. 40 is an illustration showing a browser display screen of the siteproviding a Web page creation support service according to an embodimentof the present invention.

FIG. 41 is an illustration showing a browser display screen of the siteproviding a Web page creation support service according to an embodimentof the present invention.

FIG. 42 is an illustration showing a browser display screen of the siteproviding a Web page creation support service according to an embodimentof the present invention.

FIG. 43 is an illustration showing a browser display screen of the siteproviding a Web page creation support service according to an embodimentof the present invention.

FIG. 44 is an illustration showing a browser display screen of the siteproviding a Web page creation support service according to an embodimentof the present invention.

FIG. 45 is an illustration showing a browser display screen of the siteproviding a Web page creation support service according to an embodimentof the present invention.

FIG. 46 is an illustration showing a browser display screen of the siteproviding a Web page creation support service according to an embodimentof the present invention.

FIG. 47 is an illustration showing a browser display screen of the siteproviding a Web page creation support service according to an embodimentof the present invention.

FIG. 48 is an illustration showing a browser display screen of the siteproviding a Web page creation support service according to an embodimentof the present invention.

FIG. 49 is an illustration showing a browser display screen of the siteproviding a Web page creation support service according to an embodimentof the present invention.

FIG. 50 is an illustration showing a browser display screen of the siteproviding a Web page creation support service according to an embodimentof the present invention.

FIG. 51 is an illustration showing a browser display screen of the siteproviding a Web page creation support service according to an embodimentof the present invention.

FIG. 52 is an illustration showing a browser display screen of the siteproviding a Web page creation support service according to an embodimentof the present invention.

FIG. 53 is an illustration showing a browser display screen of the siteproviding a Web page creation support service according to an embodimentof the present invention.

FIG. 54 is an illustration showing a browser display screen of the siteproviding a Web page creation support service according to an embodimentof the present invention.

FIG. 55 is an illustration showing a browser display screen of the siteproviding a Web page creation support service according to an embodimentof the present invention.

FIG. 56 is an illustration showing a browser display screen of the siteproviding a Web page creation support service according to an embodimentof the present invention.

FIG. 57 is an illustration showing a browser display screen of the siteproviding a Web page creation support service according to an embodimentof the present invention.

FIG. 58 is an illustration showing a browser display screen of the siteproviding a Web page creation support service according to an embodimentof the present invention.

FIG. 59 is an illustration showing a browser display screen of the siteproviding a Web page creation support service according to an embodimentof the present invention.

FIG. 60 is an illustration showing a browser display screen of the siteproviding a Web page creation support service according to an embodimentof the present invention.

FIG. 61 is an illustration showing a browser display screen of the siteproviding a Web page creation support service according to an embodimentof the present invention.

FIG. 62 is an illustration showing a browser display screen of the siteproviding a Web page creation support service according to an embodimentof the present invention.

FIG. 63 is an illustration showing a browser display screen of the siteproviding a Web page creation support service according to an embodimentof the present invention.

FIG. 64 is an illustration showing a browser display screen of the siteproviding a Web page creation support service according to an embodimentof the present invention.

FIG. 65 is an illustration showing a browser display screen of the siteproviding a Web page creation support service according to an embodimentof the present invention.

FIG. 66 is an illustration showing a browser display screen of the siteproviding a Web page creation support service according to an embodimentof the present invention.

FIG. 67 is an illustration showing a browser display screen of the siteproviding a Web page creation support service according to an embodimentof the present invention.

FIG. 68 is an illustration showing a browser display screen of the siteproviding a Web page creation support service according to an embodimentof the present invention.

FIG. 69 is an illustration showing a browser display screen of the siteproviding a Web page creation support service according to an embodimentof the present invention.

FIG. 70 is an illustration showing a browser display screen of the siteproviding a Web page creation support service according to an embodimentof the present invention.

FIG. 71 is an illustration showing a browser display screen of the siteproviding a Web page creation support service according to an embodimentof the present invention.

FIG. 72 is an illustration showing a browser display screen of the siteproviding a Web page creation support service according to an embodimentof the present invention.

FIG. 73 is an illustration showing a browser display screen of the siteproviding a Web page creation support service according to an embodimentof the present invention.

FIG. 74 is an illustration showing a browser display screen of the siteproviding a Web page creation support service according to an embodimentof the present invention.

FIG. 75 is an illustration showing a browser display screen of the siteproviding a Web page creation support service according to an embodimentof the present invention.

FIG. 76 is an illustration showing a browser display screen of the siteproviding a Web page creation support service according to an embodimentof the present invention.

FIG. 77 is an illustration showing a browser display screen of the siteproviding a Web page creation support service according to an embodimentof the present invention.

FIG. 78 is an illustration showing a browser display screen of the siteproviding a Web page creation support service according to an embodimentof the present invention.

FIG. 79 is an illustration showing a browser display screen of the siteproviding a Web page creation support service according to an embodimentof the present invention.

FIG. 80 is an illustration showing a browser display screen of the siteproviding a Web page creation support service according to an embodimentof the present invention.

FIG. 81 is an illustration showing a browser display screen of the siteproviding a Web page creation support service according to an embodimentof the present invention.

FIG. 82 is an illustration showing a browser display screen of the siteproviding a Web page creation support service according to an embodimentof the present invention.

FIG. 83 is an illustration showing a browser display screen of the siteproviding a Web page creation support service according to an embodimentof the present invention.

FIG. 84 is an illustration showing a browser display screen of the siteproviding a Web page creation support service according to an embodimentof the present invention.

FIG. 85 is an illustration showing a browser display screen of the siteproviding a Web page creation support service according to an embodimentof the present invention.

FIG. 86 is an illustration showing a browser display screen of the siteproviding a Web page creation support service according to an embodimentof the present invention.

FIG. 87 is an illustration showing a browser display screen of the siteproviding a Web page creation support service according to an embodimentof the present invention.

FIG. 88 is an illustration showing a browser display screen of the siteproviding a Web page creation support service according to an embodimentof the present invention.

FIG. 89 is an illustration showing a browser display screen of the siteproviding a Web page creation support service according to an embodimentof the present invention.

FIG. 90 is an illustration showing a browser display screen of the siteproviding a Web page creation support service according to an embodimentof the present invention.

FIG. 91 is an illustration showing a browser display screen of the siteproviding a Web page creation support service according to an embodimentof the present invention.

FIG. 92 is an illustration showing a browser display screen of the siteproviding a Web page creation support service according to an embodimentof the present invention.

FIG. 93 is an illustration showing a browser display screen of the siteproviding a Web page creation support service according to an embodimentof the present invention.

FIG. 94 is an illustration showing a browser display screen of the siteproviding a Web page creation support service according to an embodimentof the present invention.

FIG. 95 is an illustration showing a browser display screen of the siteproviding a Web page creation support service according to an embodimentof the present invention.

FIG. 96 is an illustration showing a browser display screen of the siteproviding a Web page creation support service according to an embodimentof the present invention.

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION

Some preferred embodiments of a Web page creation system and so forthaccording to the present invention will be further illustrated belowwith reference to the accompanying drawings.

(1) Configuration of the Web Page Creation Support System (1-1) OverallSystem Configuration

First, with reference to FIG. 1, the overall configuration of the Webpage creation system according to an embodiment of the present inventionwill be described.

As shown in FIG. 1, the Web page creation support system mainly consistsof the Web page creation support server 100, a plurality of customerterminal units 300 (300-1, 300-2, . . . , 300-n) connected to the Webpage creation support server 100 via a network 200, and a plurality ofcreator terminal units 400 (400-1, 400-2, . . . , 400-n) connected tothe Web page creation support server 100 via a network 250.

Here, a “Web page”, which is the object of the service by the Web pagecreation support system according to an embodiment of the presentinvention, is information (contents) such as text, image, voice, videodefined by HTML (Hypertext Markup Language) and other languagesavailable on the Web, and stored on the Web server so as to beaccessible by a client via a network using browsing software such as abrowser.

The “Web page creation support server” 100 is a computer systemconstituting a WWW (World Wide Web) server (or referred to as Webserver, HTTP (Hypertext Transfer Protocol) server and so on) which makesit possible for Web page creation support services via a network 200 tobe provided to the customer terminal unit 300 and other clients.

A “Web page creation support service” provided by the “Web page creationsupport server” 100 is a service to create Web pages in accordance withthe tastes and budget of the customer terminal units 300 or updatepreviously created Web pages, and deliver in response to the requestfrom the clients specialized as customer terminal units 300 through thesite operated on the Web page creation support server on the Web.

Here, a “Web page” is called as a WWW page or a home page, and is theinformation (Web contents) stored on a Web server and can be browsedusing Web page browsing software such as a browser from a clientaccessing via Web. Updating a Web page means an addition, a change or adeletion of the entire or a part of a Web page which has been previouslycreated.

“Network” 200 and 250 are communications networks capable of bilateralcommunication of information, such as the Internet connected via publicline network and the like, or intranet connected via LAN and the like,and the connection being either wired or wireless.

A “customer terminal unit” 300 is a special concept in thisspecification. The customer terminal unit 300 is defined as a clientamong the clients accessing the Web page creation support server 100 viaa network 200 having authorization to use the Web page creation supportservice. Therefore, in general, it is a computer having the functions ofa client, namely, a communication function and a browsing function.However, it is needless to say that the customer terminal unit of courseincludes household electric appliances and mobile terminal devices andfurther mobile telephone terminals so on.

A “creator terminal unit” 400 is also a special concept in thisspecification. A creator terminal unit 400 is defined as a sub-serverconnected to a Web page creation support server 100 via a network 250,which actually creates the Web pages requested by the customer terminalunit 300, and provides services to deliver them to the customer terminalunit 300 via the Web page creation support server 100. Therefore, ingeneral, it is a computer system having the functions such as acommunication function, and an HTML editing function to create Webpages, and creating and editing function of various kinds of imagefiles.

(1-2) Web Page Creation Support Server 100

Next, the configuration of the Web page creation support server 100 willbe described with reference to FIG. 2.

As described before, the Web page creation support server 100 is acomputer system constituting the WWW server capable of providing the Webpage creation support service to the customer terminal unit 300 andother clients via a network 200. The server includes an order processingpart 110, a credit processing part 120, a project control part 130, anupdate processing part 190, an other information processing part 140, atemplate information database 150, a customer information database 160,a project information database 170, a creator information database 180,and an other database 185.

(1-2-1) Order Processing Part 110

The order processing part 110 has a function for receiving a Web pagecreation request from the customer terminal unit 300. As shown in FIG.3, the order processing part 110 includes a customer/creator terminalunit registration part 111, a template information processing part 112,a preview screen processing part 113, a staffing part 114, a quotationprocessing part 115, a temporary order receiving part 116, a creditinquiry part 117, an actual order receiving part 118, and an optionservice processing part 119.

The customer/creator registration part 111 registers and manages variousinformation, in the customer information database 160, about thecustomer terminal unit 300 that has accessed the Web page creationsupport server 100. The customer information managed here includes theprimary customer information, which is simple information such as ane-mail address, that is required for the customer terminal unit 300 toview the preview screen of the Web page images described below andpermit the preliminary quotation, and the secondary customerinformation, which is more detailed information such as an address and aname, that is requested from the customer terminal unit 300 forperforming the credit processing.

Also, the customer/creator registration part 111 registers and manages,in the creator information database 180, various information about thecreator terminal unit 400 as creator information in accordance with therequest from the customer terminal unit 300 that has accessed the Webpage creation support server 100.

The template information processing part 112 manages the templateinformation stored in the template information database 150. Thetemplate information database 150 stores the template information of theWeb pages that can be selected by the customer terminal unit 300. Thetemplate information mentioned in this specification is the informationused to determine the style of a Web page, and the template informationcontains, for example, the design information to determine the framedesign of a Web page, the item information about the page items to bedisplayed on a Web page, and the item contents information, which is thespecific contents to be placed on each page item, and so on.

In this regard, in the Web page creation support system, etc. accordingto the present embodiment, by using the template information, it ispossible to simplify ordering a Web creation request and update requeston the network and to realize efficient control of a Web page creationproject described below.

The preview screen processing part 113 has a function to form an imagebased on the template information selected by the customer terminal unit300 into a preview screen which can be easily grasped visually in orderto display the image on the display part of the customer terminal unit300.

The staffing part 114 includes a matching engine enabling the customerterminal unit 300 to select a creator terminal unit 400 that is inaccordance with his/her own taste, for example, a cool atmosphere andclassic atmosphere. The customer terminal unit 300 resisters orderingrequirements such as his/her preferences in the Web page creationsupport server 100, and the staffing part 114 extracts a creatorterminal unit 400 meeting with the ordering requirements of the customerterminal unit 300 from the creator information registered beforehand inthe creator information database 180, and presents them to the customerterminal unit 300.

If a plurality of creator terminal units 400 is extracted, it ispossible for the customer terminal unit 300 to select the creatorterminal unit 400 matching with his/her own taste from the presentedcreator terminal units 400. At that time, in order to enable thecustomer terminal unit 300 to easily select the creator terminal unit400 who matches with his/her own taste, the staffing part 114 may beformed such that the Web pages previously created by the creatorterminal unit 400 are linked for reference. In this regard, the staffingpart 114 can be omitted.

The quotation part 115 performs quotation of the cost for creating Webpages based on the ordering requirements sent by the customer terminalunit 300 to the Web page creation support server 100, and displays thisinformation on the display of the customer terminal unit 300. Thecustomer terminal unit 300 can select the Web page creation which givesmaximum effect within his/her budget with reference to the displayedquotations.

The temporary ordering part 116 receives temporarily the order of a Webpage creation request made to the Web page creation support server 100after the customer terminal unit 300 has confirmed the preview screenpresented from the preview screen processing part 113 and the quotationpresented from the quotation processing part 115.

The credit inquiry part 117 directs, as shown in FIG. 5 in detail,credit inquiry to the credit processing part 120 and further to thecredit server 500, and based on the result, determines whether or not toproceed with the Web page creation job of the customer terminal unit 300which has temporarily ordered by the temporary ordering part 116.

If the result of the credit inquiry is affirmative, the actual orderingpart 118 actually proceeds with the Web page creation job, and when theWeb pages are delivered, it is determined that the cost for that servicecan be collected, thus the actual order of the Web page creation requestfrom the customer terminal unit 300 placing an order is received, andthe processing proceeds to the Web page creation job, which will bedescribed later.

The option service processing part 119 provides services other than theWeb page creation and update services in response to the request of thecustomer terminal unit 300. For option services, as shown in FIG. 4,there are services provided by the option service server 280, forexample, a hosting service provided by a hosting service providingserver 285 and an electronic-commerce service provided by anelectronic-commerce service providing server 290. In this regard, inthis specification, the option services are not limited to the hostingservice and the electronic commerce, and include all the servicesavailable via a network like the Internet, for example, services such asobtaining a domain, and so on. In this regard, in this specification,the “hosting service” includes all the services to support the serveroperations to provide the Internet services such as providing a fileserver or a mail server on the Internet. Further, the“electronic-commerce service” includes all the services to supportdistribution of products and services using the Internet, such as ashopping basket service, a distribution service, a charge collectionservice, and so on.

In the case where the customer terminal unit 300 requests to create orupdate a Web page and, at the same time, obtains a domain of the Webpage or needs space for storing the Web page, the necessary services canbe received by accessing the hosting service providing server 285 in theoption service providing server 280 via a network 270 through theintermediation of the option service processing part 119. Also, in thecase where, the customer terminal unit 300 requests to create or updatea Web page and, at the same time, a shopping basket service, adistribution service, charge collection service, and so on are necessaryin order to sell the products displayed on that Web page, the necessaryservices can be received by accessing the electronic-commerce serviceproviding server 290 in the option service providing server 280 via anetwork 270 through the intermediation of the option service processingpart 119.

In this regard, in the example shown in FIG. 4, the Web page creationsupport server 100 and the option service server 280, that is, thehosting service providing server 285 and the electronic-commerce serviceproviding server 290 are configured to be different servers. However, itis needless to say that the option services can be configured as onefunction of the Web page creation support server 100.

In this regard, in the example illustrated in the figure, the orderprocessing part 110 includes the customer/creator registration part 111,the template information processing part 112, the preview screenprocessing part preview screen processing part 113, the staffing part,the quotation processing part 115, the temporary ordering part 116, thecredit inquiry part 117, the actual ordering part 118, and the optionservice processing part 119, however, each processing part can beconfigured as a standalone part or as a combination of some parts toform another processing part. Furthermore, it is needless to say thatthe parts can also be arranged independently from the Web page creationsupport server 100.

(1-2-2) Credit Processing Part 120

Next, the credit processing part 120 will be described with reference toFIG. 5. The credit processing part 120 of the Web page creation supportserver 100 is connected to the credit server 500 via a network such asthe Internet 260 and so on.

The credit server 500 consists of the processing parts including thecredit inquiry receiving part 510, the credit inquiry part 520, and thecredit result reporting part 530, and the credit database 540 storingthe credit information.

When the credit inquiry receiving part 510 of the credit server 500receives a credit inquiry on a customer from the credit processing part120 of the Web page creation support server 100 via the Internet 260,the credit inquiry part 520 accesses the credit database 540, andperforms credit research on the paying capacity of the customer. Theresult is reported to the credit processing part 120 of the Web pagecreation support server 100 by the credit result reporting part 530 viathe Internet.

As described previously, the Web page creation support server 100decides whether or not to actually proceed the Web page creation job forthe customer from which temporary order is received based on the creditresult obtained via the credit processing part 120. If the decision isaffirmative, actual order processing is performed in the actual orderprocessing part.

In this regard, in the example illustrated in the figure, the creditserver 500 is configured separately from the Web page creation supportserver 100, but it is needless to say that they can also be deployed onthe same server. Also, in the above example, the credit database 540 islocated on the credit server 500, but it is needless to say that it toocan be configured as a separate database server.

(1-2-3) Project Control Part 130

Then, the project control part 130 will be described with reference toFIG. 6. The project control part 130 mainly includes a job room setuppart 131, a schedule control part 132, an upload control part 133, adownload control part 134, an e-mail issuing part 135, and a deliveryprocessing part 136.

Before describing each function of the project control part 130, specialconcepts such as a “project” and a “job room” and so on in thisspecification will be described.

In this specification, “project” is a series of the Web page creationprocesses under the control of the Web page creation support server 100performed upon receipt of the Web page creation request (actual orderprocessing) from the customer terminal unit 300. In general, a projectstarts when the customer terminal unit 300 makes a Web page creationrequest (actual order) to the Web page creation support server 100, andproceeds with the exchange of information about the contents between thecustomer terminal unit 300 and the creator terminal unit 400 via the jobroom set up by the project control part 130, and then the task iscompleted by the delivery from the Web page creation support server 100to the customer terminal unit 300 the Web pages by the creator terminalunit 400. Projects are controlled such that a specific job room isassigned to each request and controlled specifically.

Also, a “job room” is a virtual control space built in the Web pagecreation support server 100 corresponding to each project. As isdescribed later, for each job room, specific identification number(account) and specific entrance privileges are set. A job room is avirtual control space to be built for each project unit (or orderingunit), but, as described later with reference to FIG. 31, the same onejob room can be built so as to be recognized by the customer terminalunit 300 as a customer-specific job room, and for an administrator ofthe Web page creation support server 100, it is recognized as anadministrator-specific job room and for a creator terminal unit 400terminal unit, it is recognized as a creator-specific job room.

Once a job room is established, the customer terminal unit 300 accessesthe job room to upload necessary information to create Web pages, andthe creator terminal unit 400 can access the job room to download thenecessary information to create Web pages. The creator terminal unit 400can upload the Web page draft to the job room. The customer terminalunit 300 can access the job room to know the progress status of the Webpage creation job, or check the Web page draft uploaded by the creatorterminal unit 400. Also, the administrator of the Web page creationsupport server 100 can access this job room to get the progress statusfor taking the necessary actions.

Next, each function of the job room control part 130 will bespecifically described.

The “job room set up part” 131 builds a specific job room virtually inthe Web page creation project upon receipt of the order request from thecustomer terminal unit 300, as will be described later. A specificaccount is assigned to the job room, and ID and password for enteringthe job room is set up. The ID and password that have been set up can beconfigured such that the e-mail issuing part 135 automatically notifiesthe customer terminal unit 300, creator terminal unit 400, oradministrator of the Web page creation support server 100.

The “schedule control part” 133 controls the schedule of the Web pagecreation job which proceeds per each job room. For example, it ensuresthat the creator terminal unit 400 delivers the Web page draft by thedelivery request date requested by the customer terminal unit 300. It isalso possible to supervise the jobs out of the scheduled progress suchas late delivery from the creator terminal unit 400, and if necessary,the part can be configured to automatically issue a delivery urging mailfrom the e-mail issuing part 135 to the creator terminal unit 400causing the delay in delivery.

The “upload control part” 133 is a part of the control parts controllingthe status change of the project, and controls the status in which filesand so on are uploaded to the Web room. The object of upload includesthe information (raw material) necessary for creating Web pages such asthe Web contents uploaded from the customer terminal unit 300 andothers, and the contents draft uploaded form the creator terminal unit400 and so on.

When the status is changed by uploading, the schedule control part 132is informed of the change, and the schedule control part 132 updates thestatus of the Web page creation job that has been changed by uploading.For example, if predetermined information is uploaded from the customerterminal unit 300, it is possible to configure the system to issue, fromthe e-mail issuing part 135, an e-mail urging the creator terminal unit400 to download the information. On the contrary, if a draft is uploadedfrom the creator terminal unit 400, it is possible to configure thesystem to issue, from the e-mail issuing part 135, an e-mail urging thecustomer terminal unit 300 to check the draft.

The “download control part” 134 is a part of the control partscontrolling the status change of the project, which controls the statusin which the uploaded files and so on are downloaded from the Web room.The object of download includes the information (raw material) necessaryfor creating Web pages such as the Web contents uploaded from thecustomer terminal unit 300 and others, and the contents draft uploadedform the creator terminal unit 400 and so on. In addition, the object ofdownload includes the files of raw materials for the Web contents whichis copyright free and located in the Web room so as to be downloaded.

When downloading is executed, the schedule control part 132 is informed,and the schedule control part 132 updates the status of the Web pagecreation job that has been changed by the downloading. Also, ifnecessary, it is possible to configure the system to automaticallyissue, from the e-mail issuing part 135, an e-mail with its contentcorresponding to the download action to the customer terminal unit 300or the creator terminal unit 400.

The “e-mail issuing part” 135 has a function to send an e-mail with thenecessary contents to a predetermined destination when a preset actionoccurs in the course of the Web page creation job. The timing of theissue of an e-mail can be set for any time by configuring the Web pagecreation support system.

For e-mails to the customer terminal unit 300, there are, for example,the job room set-up notice informing the customer of the entrance-ID tothe job room and its password, the upload request prompting uploadingWeb contents, the schedule notice notifying the schedule for Web pagecreation job, the confirmation request with a request for theconfirmation of Web page draft, the delivery notice notifying deliveryof Web draft, receipt confirmation of uploading the other files, and soon.

For e-mails to the creator terminal unit 400, there are, for example,the loading status inquiry for checking the loading status before makinga request for Web page creation, placing an actual order requesting aWeb page creation job, the download request prompting downloading bynotifying the uploading from the customer terminal unit 300, theschedule notice notifying the schedule of a Web page creation job, thereminder for urging delivery, the modification request to directmodification of a draft, receipt confirmation of uploading the otherfiles, and so on.

The delivery processing part 136 has a function to make the finaldelivery of the Web pages created by the creator terminal unit 400 tothe customer terminal unit 300. The delivery processing part 136 can beconfigured to have a function to notify the schedule control part 132that a series of Web page creation job has completed, and a function toas a job room closing part to close the job room upon the completion ofthe delivery processing.

The delivery method of the completed Web pages can be one of varioustypes depending on the configuration of the Web page creation supportsystem and the level of knowledge of the customer terminal unit 300 ofthe Internet and computers. For example, for a customer terminal unit300 who knows how to download a completed Web page and deploy it on theWeb server by himself/herself, the delivery processing can be replacedby issuing an e-mail notifying the completion of the Web page andrecommending downloading. On the other hand, for a customer terminalunit 300 having insufficient knowledge and skill of the Internet andcomputers, and who cannot, therefore, set up Web pages byhimself/herself, it is possible to close the delivery processing at thepoint when the Web pages are deployed on the specified Web server to bemade available for browsing.

In this regard, in the above description, the structure of the projectcontrol part 130 has been described in connection with the project inwhich the customer terminal unit 300 requests the Web page creationsupport server 100 to create a new Web page. However, as describedlater, when the customer terminal unit 300 requests the Web pagecreation support server 100 to update a previously existent Web page,the progress of the project is controlled by the project control part130 in the same manner.

(1-2-4) Update Processing Part 190

Next, an update processing part 190 will be described with reference toFIG. 7. The order processing part 110 receives a new Web creationrequest from the customer terminal unit 300. On the other hand, theupdate processing part 190 updates a previously created Web page, thatmeans, adds, changes, or deletes the Web page information. As shown inFIG. 7, the update processing part 190 consists of a project inquirypart 191, a template information processing part 192, a preview screenprocessing part 193, a quotation processing part 194, a temporary orderprocessing part 195, a credit inquiry part 196, and an actual orderprocessing part 197.

As already described, when creating a new Web page, the project controlpart 130 assigns a specific job room to each request individually, andperforms a specific project control. This project will be completed whenthe creator terminal unit 400 performs the delivery to the customerterminal unit 300 via the Web page creation support server 100. Eachproject is controlled with a specific identification number assigned foreach customer terminal unit 300. When a customer terminal unit 300 whowants to update a Web page logs in a predetermined top page and has beenauthenticated, the project inquiry part 191 inquires the project whichis wanted to be updated from the delivered projects stored in theproject database 170 shown in FIG. 11.

The template information processing part 192 controls the templateinformation which is recorded in the template information database 150.In the template information database 150, the template information ofthe Web pages which can be selected by the customer terminal unit 300 isrecorded. The template information described in this specification isthe information for determining appearance of a Web page. The templateinformation includes, for example, design information to determine theframe design of the Web page, item information regarding the page itemsto be displayed on the Web page, and item content information which is aspecific content to be placed on each page item.

In this regard, in the update processing of Web page information, thetemplate information in accordance with the delivered Web pageinformation is read from the template information database 150, and ispresented to the customer terminal unit 300. The customer terminal unit300 can perform the change work, such as addition, a change, and adeletion of Web page information based on the presented templateinformation. Thus in the Web page creation support system, etc.according to the present embodiment, by using the template information,a Web page can be easily updated on the network.

The preview screen processing part 193 has a function to form the imageof the template information content which has been selected and changedby the customer terminal unit 300 to a preview screen which can beeasily grasped visually to display on the display unit of the customerterminal unit 300. The customer terminal unit 300 can confirm whether aWeb page is updated as he/she desires by referring to the preview screenbefore proceeding to the update work of the actual Web page.

The quotation processing part 194 quotes the cost to update a Web pagebased on the change condition of the Web page information which thecustomer terminal unit 300 has sent to the Web page creation supportserver 100, and displays the result on the display of the customerterminal unit 300. The customer terminal unit 300 can select the updatejob which has the maximum effect within his/her own budget withreference to the displayed quotation.

After the customer terminal unit 300 confirms the preview screenpresented by the preview screen processing part 193 and the quotationpresented by the quotation processing part 194, the temporary orderprocessing part 195 receives temporarily the order of the Web pageupdate performed on the Web page creation support server 100.

As shown in FIG. 5, the credit inquiry part 196 performs credit inquiryon the credit processing part 120 and then the credit server 500, andbased on the result, determines whether or not the Web page update jobshould be actually proceeded regarding the customer terminal unit 300which has been temporarily order-received in the temporary orderprocessing part 195.

When the result of the credit inquiry is affirmative, the actual orderprocessing part 197 determines that if the Web page update job actuallyprogresses and the Web page is delivered, the cost of the service can becollected. Then the Web page update request from the customer terminalunit 300 who has placed the order is actually received, and the Web pageupdate job described later with reference to FIG. 31 progresses.

In this regard, the update processing part 190 in the figure is notprovided with the option service processing part, however, in the samemanner as in the order processing part 110, the option serviceprocessing part which provides the services other than the Web pagecreation and update services may be provided in accordance with therequest from the customer terminal unit 300.

(1-2-5) Other Information Processing/Control Part 140

The Web page creation support server 100 can be configured to includethe other information processing/control part 140 in addition to theabove-mentioned order processing part 110, credit processing part 120,and project control part 130. The other information processing part 140can perform various appendant processing and data administrationaccompanying Web page creation job.

FIG. 8 shows an example of the other information processing/control part140. The information processing/control part 140 shown in the figureincludes the collection processing part 142, the payment processing part144, the claim receiving part 146, and the update receiving part 148.

For example, the collection processing part 142 issues invoices to thecustomer terminal unit 300 upon the delivery of Web pages, and performscollection processing. The payment processing part 144 performs theaccounting processing for paying the creator terminal unit 400 forcreating Web pages. The claim receiving part receives claims from thecustomer terminal unit 300. The update receiving part 148 can performupdate receiving and so on when the customer terminal unit 300 wants toupdate Web pages. The above example is only one example, and the otherinformation processing/control part 140 can include various informationprocessing and information control operations depending on theconfiguration of the Web page creation support system.

In this regard, according to the embodiment, the informationprocessing/control part of the Web page creation support server 100consists of the order processing part 110, the credit processing part120, the project control part 130, and the other informationprocessing/control part 140, but these processing parts can beconfigured individually or combined arbitrarily on a separate server. Orrather, it is needless to say that each function element included ineach processing part can be configured by individually or combinedarbitrarily as well.

(1-2-6) Template Information Database 150

Next, with reference to FIG. 9, the data structure of the templateinformation database 150 will be described. The template informationdatabase 150 is the database related to the Web page contents with whichthe customer terminal unit 300 can have an outline image of a Web pageto be created or updated using the Web page creation support systemaccording to the present embodiment.

In general, for creating Web pages, it is necessary to determine thedesign information about the page frame design to decide overall imageof Web pages, the item information about page items to decide what kindof Web pages are to be interlinked with each other, the item contentsinformation to decide what contents are placed on each Web page. Thetemplate information database 150 provides the customer terminal unit300 who is inexperienced in creating Web pages with raw material andreference material in order to determine this information.

In FIG. 9, an example of the template information database 150 is shown.As shown in the figure, the template information database 150 includesthe template master template master 152 related to the designinformation, the template page master 154 related to the page items, andthe template detail master 156 related to item contents.

The template master 152 includes various information to determine theframe design of a Web page, for example, data such as the template ID,the color ID, and so on about the taste and color tone to decide overallimage of a Web page, and, in addition, data on the template creation feeand so on for creating the frame. Also, the template master 152 includesthumbnail image information to facilitate selection by the customerterminal unit 300.

The template master 152 determines the taste to decide the overall imageof a Web page. The customer terminal unit 300 can select as a generaltaste, based on the information stored in the template master 152, theoverall image of a Web page, for example, “cool atmosphere”, “warmatmosphere”, “pastel atmosphere”, and “heavy metallic atmosphere”. Inaddition, the customer terminal unit 300 can select a color tone toexpress the selected taste frame.

When selecting, the customer terminal unit 300 can select the mostpreferable frame by referring to the thumbnail image stored in thetemplate master 152, and by displaying the preview screen. The data ofthese designs is linked with the data of template creation fee so thatthe customer terminal unit 300 can get quotation of the cost of creatingWeb pages satisfying customer's preferences.

The template page master 154 stores the page item information on how theWeb pages are interlinked with each other using the template frameselected based on the template master 152. In the example shown in thefigure, the page item information is described as template page name,and the customer terminal unit 300 can select the page items to expressusing the template frame based on this data. For a template page, it ispossible to configure the selection, for example, top page, companyoverview page, recruiting staff page, and product information page. Alsoin this case, by displaying thumbnail images and preview screens, thecustomer terminal unit 300 can select the composition of Web pages usingmore specific images.

The template detail master 156 stores information about specific itemcontents to be placed on page items selected based on the template pagemaster 154. To understand the structure of the template detail master156 more specifically, description will be given in relation to aspecific example of the template page items selected in the templatepage master 154. For example, when the top page is selected as thetemplate page, the item contents placed on this top page are determinedbased on the template detail master 156.

Taking top page for an example, it is determined whether to insert thecompany logo into the top page; whether to insert the title (forexample, company name) into the top page; whether to insert the mainimage (for example, the image or photograph for appealing the company);whether to insert a catchword (for example, a catchword for appealingthe company).

The template detail master 156 stores the information about the unitprice of each detail related to each item contents information, therebymaking it possible for the customer terminal unit 300 to get a quotationof the cost of creating Web pages containing the desired item contents.

(1-2-7) Customer Information Database 160

Next, with reference to FIG. 10, the structure of the customerinformation database 160 will be described. In the customer informationdatabase 160, various information on the customer terminal unit 300 isregistered and managed. The information registered includes, as shown inFIG. 10, personal or corporate identification information such ascustomer ID, user name, password, name, home address, telephone number,FAX number, e-mail address, and company address.

The customer information controlled here includes the primary customerinformation requested to be registered in order to display, to thecustomer terminal unit 300, the preview screen of Web page imagesdescribed below and to permit temporary quotation, and the secondarycustomer information requested from the customer terminal unit 300 inorder to perform credit processing.

Registering the primary customer information in the customer informationdatabase 160 is carried out before the customer terminal unit 300accesses the Web page creation support server 100 to refer to thepreview screen, and to receive the quotation service of Web pagecreation. The contents of the primary customer information registeredhere includes necessary minimum of items, for example, name and e-mailaddress.

Registering the secondary customer information in the customerinformation database 160 is carried out after receiving temporary order.Since this secondary customer information is necessary for executing thecredit processing before receiving the actual order, if the customerterminal unit 300 belongs to an enterprise, the information includes, inaddition to the primary customer information, the information needed forcredit inquiry such as the location of the main office, capital amount,and corresponding bank.

The customer information database 160 obtained in such a way is utilizedwhile being linked with other databases and processing systems invarious situations of the Web page creation support system according tothe present embodiment.

(1-2-8) Project Information Database 170

Next, with reference to FIG. 11, the structure of the projectinformation database 170 will be described. The project informationdatabase 170 is a database to control each Web page creation job placedfrom the customer terminal unit 300 for every order placement. Asalready described, after the Web page creation support server 100receives the actual order for a Web page creation from the customerterminal unit 300, a job room, which is a virtual control space forevery order placement, is set up. The project information database 170is a database to control the progress of the Web page creation via thisjob room.

As shown in FIG. 11, the project information database 170 includes theproject numbering database 172, the PJ (schedule information database)database 174, the project detail database 176, and the status change log178.

The project numbering database 172 is a database to automatically set upthe project number in order to set up a job room in response to theorder placement when a Web page creation job is actually received fromthe customer terminal unit 300. The project number assigned here is alsomaintained after the Web page creation job has been completed and thedelivery has been performed. As described below, when updating adelivered Web page, this project number is referenced as well.

The schedule information database 174 is the nucleus of this projectinformation database 174, and is the basic database to control theprogress status of the Web page creation for every job room. Therefore,the schedule information database 174 includes various informationnecessary for the project control such as the template informationselected by the customer terminal unit 300, project start date, customerschedule, creator schedule, the status corresponding to the progress ofthe Web page creation, the upload information from the customer terminalunit 300, the download information of the Web contents by the creatorterminal unit 400, and the upload information of the Web page draft bythe creator terminal unit 400.

The project detail database 176 controls the details of the templateinformation of the Web page selected by the customer terminal unit 300.Therefore, the project detail database 176 contains and manages theinformation related the template information such as the template IDcorresponding to the project ID, template page ID, template detail ID,template detail variation ID, quotation unit price, quantity.

The upload pattern master 177 is a database which automatically assignsa material number to each of the materials (for example, image data suchas a logo, a picture, etc., and text data such as a catchword, etc.)that have been uploaded from the customer terminal unit 300 to the Webpage creation support server 100 corresponding to the templateinformation, and controls them. This upload pattern master 177 performscontrolling by having references to upload pattern ID which is assignedto each template detail master 156 shown in FIG. 9 and a specificmaterial No. assigned to each raw material, a raw material name, and adata section.

An upload database 179 controls the physical files of each type of thematerials (for example, image data such as a logo, a picture, etc., andtext data such as a catchword, etc.) that have been uploaded from thecustomer terminal unit 300 to the Web page creation support server 100by the specific material No. assigned to each raw material at uploadingtime in the project which is currently under construction. With theupload database 179, the upload pattern master 177 can identify thephysical file of the material corresponding to a material No. With theupload pattern master 177 and the upload database 179, the control isperformed such that a physical file of the material to be inserted intothe item content, which is identified by the template detail master 156,is specified.

The status change log 178 is a database to record and manage the historyin a log when the status of the job room is changed in the course of theWeb page creation job. The actions of the status change includes, forexample, uploading the information about Web contents from the customerterminal unit 300, and uploading a Web page draft by the creatorterminal unit 400.

(1-2-9) Creator Information Database 180

Next, with reference to FIG. 12, the structure of the creatorinformation database 180 will be described. The creator informationdatabase 180 stores and manages various information about creatorterminal units 400 who actually create Web pages. Once a creator 400performs creator registration in the creator information database 180 asone of the staff of the Web page creation support system according tothe present embodiment, then he/she can contract to work on variousaspects of the projects requested from the Web page creation supportsystem.

The information registered in the creator information database 180 is,as shown in FIG. 12, the creator ID, user name, password, name, homeaddress, telephone number, FAX number, e-mail address, and in addition,work history of an operator who handles the creator terminal unit 400,and using software and so on.

The creator information database 180 obtained in this way is utilizedand is linked with other databases and computer systems in varioussituations of the Web page creation support system according to thepresent embodiment.

(1-2-10) Other Databases 185

Moreover, a Web page creation support server 100 can have the otherdatabases 185. The other databases 185 can have several variationsdepending on the configuration of the Web page creation support system.For example, a database can control the Web page URLs actually createdat the site operated by the Web page creation support server 100, orstore and control the maintenance history of the created Web pages.

(1-3) Customer Terminal Unit 300

As already described, a “customer terminal unit” 300 is a specialconcept in this specification. The customer terminal unit 300 is definedas a client having authorization to receive a web page creation supportservice by accessing the Web page creation support server 100 via anetwork 200. Therefore, in general, it is a computer having thefunctions as a client, namely, communications function and browsingfunction. However, it also includes household electric appliances andmobile terminal devices.

The clients who can access a Web page creation site operated by the Webpage creation support server 100 according to the present embodiment arepotential customer terminal units 300. Among the clients that haveaccessed a Web page creation site, the clients who have registered inthe customer information database 160 can receive, as a customerterminal unit 300, the Web page creation support service according tothe present embodiment.

(1-4) Creator Terminal Unit 400

As already described, a “creator terminal unit” 400 is also a specialconcept in this specification. A creator terminal unit 400 is defined asa sub-server connected with a Web page creation support server 100 via anetwork 250, which actually creates Web pages requested from thecustomer terminal unit 300, and provides services to deliver them to thecustomer terminal unit 300 via the Web page creation support server 100.Therefore, in general, it is a computer having the functions such ascommunications function, HTML editing function to create Web pages, andcreating and editing function for various image files.

As in the case of customer terminal unit 300, the clients who can accessa Web page creation site operated by the Web page creation supportserver 100 according to the present embodiment are potential creatorterminal units 400. Among the clients that have accessed a Web pagecreation site, the clients who are permitted to register as a creatorterminal unit 400 in the creator information database 180 can be managedthereafter, in the Web page creation support server 100, as a member ofthe staff who provides services of the Web page creation support systemaccording to the present embodiment.

(1-5) Credit Server 500

As shown in FIG. 5, the credit server 500 is a computer system capableof performing credit processing in linkage with the credit processingpart 120 of the Web page creation support server 100 via a network 260.The credit server 500 includes the processing part comprising the creditinquiry receiving part 510, credit inquiry part 520, credit resultreporting part 530, and so on, and the credit database 540 in whichcredit information is stored.

The credit inquiry receiving part 510 of the credit server 500 receivescredit inquiry of a specific customer terminal unit 300 from the creditprocessing part 120 of the Web page creation support server 100 via theInternet 260. Then the credit inquiry part 520 accesses the creditdatabase 540 to execute credit searches of the ability of the customerterminal unit 300 to pay. The result is reported from the credit resultreporting part 530 to the credit processing part 120 of the Web pagecreation support server 100 via the Internet 260.

As described already, the Web page creation support server 100 decideswhether or not to actually proceed with Web page creation job of thecustomer terminal unit 300 from which temporary order is received on thebasis of the credit result obtained via the credit processing part 120.If the credit result is affirmative, actual order processing is usuallyperformed for the temporary order in the actual ordering part 118 of theorder processing part 110. If the credit result is negative, furtherstudy is carried out to determine whether or not to receive order of aWeb page creation request from the customer terminal unit 300, and ifthe final judgement is negative, a notice of rejection is sent to thecustomer terminal unit 300.

In this regard, in the example illustrated in the figure, the creditserver 500 is configured separately from the Web page creation supportserver 100, but it is needless to say that they can, of course, bedeployed on the same server. Also, in the above example, the creditdatabase 540 is located on the credit server 500, but it is needless tosay that the credit database 540 can be configured as a separatedatabase server as well.

(1-6) Option Service Providing Server 280

As shown in FIG. 4, the option service providing server is a computermachine having communications function to provide various necessaryoption services in order to operate Web pages on the Internet incooperation with the option service processing part 119 of the orderprocessing part 110 of the Web page creation support server 100.

The option services, as shown in FIG. 4, includes, for example, thehosting service provided by the hosting service providing server 285 andthe electronic-commerce service provided by the electronic-commerceservice providing server 290. Here, the hosting service includes variousservices supporting the operations of the server for providing theInternet services such as a file server and a mail server on theInternet. Also, the electronic-commerce service includes variousservices supporting the distribution of products and services using theInternet such as a shopping basket service, a distribution service, anda charge collection service.

In the case where, the customer terminal unit 300 requests to create orupdate a Web page and, at the same time, obtains a domain of the Webpage or needs space for storing the Web page, the necessary services canbe received by being guided and accessing the hosting service providingserver 285 via a network 270 through the intermediation of the optionservice processing part 119. Also, in the case where, the customerterminal unit 300 requests to create or update a Web page and, at thesame time, shopping basket service, distribution service, chargecollection service, and so on are necessary in order to sell theproducts displayed on that Web page, the necessary services can bereceived by being guided and accessing the electronic-commerce serviceproviding server 290 via a network 270 through the intermediation of theoption service processing part 119.

In this regard, in the example shown in FIG. 4, the Web page creationsupport server 100 and the option service server 280 are configured tobe different servers. However, it is needless to say that the Web pagecreation support server 100 and the option service providing server 280can be configured to share all functions or a part of the functions ofthe same machine.

(2) Process Flow of Web Page Creation Support Service

Next, description will be given, with reference to the accompanyingdrawings, of the process flow of the above-created Web page creationsupport system comprising the Web page creation support server 100,network 200, customer terminal unit 300, creator terminal unit 400,credit server 500 and so on.

(2-1) General Process Flow of Web Page Creation Support Service

Now, with reference to FIG. 13, the description of the general processflow of Web page creation support system according to the presentinvention will be given.

First, in order for a client accessing the site operated by the presentsystem to use the Web page creation support service using the presentsystem, the client needs to have completed customer registration, andhave been authenticated as a customer terminal unit 300 (S1101). Aclient can use the quotation service of the desired Web pages whilereferencing a preview screen by having customer registration as acustomer terminal unit 300 (S1102).

In this quotation and ordering flow (S1102), the distinguishedprocessing, as described below, are an option service selection flow, apreview screen display flow, an automatic quotation flow, a creditinquiry flow, an actual ordering flow, and so on.

First, the customer terminal unit 300 selects whether or not he/she usesthe option services in addition to the Web page creation support serviceprovided by the present system. Next, the customer terminal unit 300refers to the preview screen by registering predetermined templateinformation, and receives a quotation based on the selected optionservices and the template information. Further, when the customerterminal unit 300 is satisfied with the quotation, and makes a Web pagecreation request to the Web page creation support system according tothe present embodiment, the temporary order processing is performedfirst. In this regard, in the present embodiment, the option serviceselection flow is structured to be performed first, however, it isneedless to say that the option service selection flow can be performedat any timing of a series of the quotation ordering flow, for example,in the middle of, or at the end of the quotation ordering flow.

Furthermore, the distinguished point in the present system is that afterreceiving temporary order and before receiving the actual order of theWeb page creation job, the Web page creation support server 100 performsthe credit search such as the ability of the customer terminal unit 300,who is the requester, to pay. In such a way, since the Web page creationjob is performed after performing the credit inquiry processing, thesituation wherein the collection of the Web page creation fails isavoided in advance, thereby making it possible to keep the businessstable.

If the credit result is affirmative, the actual order of the Web pagecreation request from the customer terminal unit 300 is received, andthe process proceeds to the Web page creation job (S1103). The Web pagecreation job (S1103) is started by setting up a job room which controlsthe progress status. Another distinguished point of the present systemis building a virtual control space called the “job room”, andcontrolling the progress status of the Web page creation.

By relaying various information such as Web contents between thecustomer terminal unit 300 and creator terminal unit 400, through suchjob room, the Web page creation job can proceed smoothly withoutneedless worry and stress to both the customer terminal unit 300 andcreator terminal unit 400.

Also one schedule of the Web page creation job, the schedule can becontrolled for every job room so that the schedule is controlledefficiently. Moreover, if the below-described automatic e-mail-issuingsystem is used, flexible responses can be made to schedule delay and soon.

Further, in the present system, in order for the Web page creation jobto proceed smoothly, staffing processing is performed for selecting thecreator terminal unit 400 who matches with a order requirement of acustomer terminal unit 300 and contracting the Web page creation.

This staffing processing can be executed at various times depending onthe system configuration. For example, in the middle of the quotationand ordering flow, by permitting the customer terminal unit 300 to viewthe group of works composed by the creator terminal unit 400 in thepast, the customer terminal unit 300 can select the creator terminalunit 400 to meet his/her preferences. Alternatively, after setting up ajob room, by matching (staffing) the ordering requirement from thecustomer terminal unit 300 and the order receiving condition of thecreator terminal unit 400, the Web page creation job can be configuredto proceed.

In this regard, for staffing, the creator information database needs tobe built in advance. Details of the creator registration flow forbuilding the creator information database will be described.

In such a way, a job room is set up, and after the creator terminal unit400 who contracts to create the Web page corresponding to the job roomis decided, the Web page creation job will proceed. The Web pagecreation job proceeds by repeating uploading and downloading of the Webpage contents. And a series of Web page creation job will complete whendelivering a Web page draft which satisfies the customer terminal unit300.

Afterward, post processing (S1104) such as the closing processing of thejob room, invoicing and collection processing of the Web page creationcost to the customer terminal unit 300, payment processing of the Webpage creation to the creator terminal unit 400 is performed.

The above is the overview of the Web page creation job. Next, detailsabout each work flow of the Web page creation job will be given.

(2-2) Creator Registration Flow

Before describing the process flow of the Web page creation servicewhich is the main work flow of the present system, description will befirst given, with reference to FIG. 14, of building the creatorinformation database to function the present system.

In order to succeed in the business of the Web page creation serviceaccording to the present embodiment, it is essential to have not onlyenriched functions of the Web page creation support server 100 to set upa site attracting users, but also to ensure enough creator terminalunits 400 both in quality and quantity who will actually contract theWeb page creation work.

FIG. 14 shows overview of the creator registration flow. As shown in thefigure, if any client accessing the Web page creation support server 100requests to register himself/herself as a creator (S1201), the Web pagecreation support server 100 confirms the registration environment(S1202) using the Web technology such as CGI (Common Gate Interface).

When the registration environment is arranged, the Web page creationsupport server 100 permits the registration of the client who hasaccessed the server. The client enters the registration itemsillustrated as an example of the creator information database as shownin FIG. 10, and sends the data (S1203).

The Web page creation support server 100 decides whether or not the datasent from a client meets a predetermined requirement, and the client hasa skill as a creator terminal unit 400 (S1204). The decision may be madebased only on the data sent by the Web page creation support server 100on a real-time basis, or it may be made by performing a credit inquiryof the client which has accessed the credit server, and deciding basedon the credit result.

When the Web page creation support server 100 has authorized anaccessing client as a new creator terminal unit 400, the creatorterminal unit 400 is registered in the creator information database 180,and from the e-mail issuing part 135 of the project control part 130,the creator ID, password and so on are sent (S1205).

The registered client is authenticated as a creator terminal unit 400,and if the ordering requirements of a customer terminal unit 300 is met,the Web page creation job is requested. If the result of the decision isa rejection, the e-mail issuing part 135 issues the rejection notice tothe client who has requested for creator registration (S1205).

(2-3) Customer Registration Flow

Next, with reference to FIG. 15, the customer registration flow will bedescribed. In order for any client who accesses a site operated by theWeb page creation support server 100 to receive the services providedwith the Web page creation support service such as quotation of a Webpage creation, the client needs to be registered in the customerinformation database as a customer terminal unit 300.

When a customer registration request is made to the Web page creationsupport server 100 from a client having accessed the server (S1301), theWeb page creation support server 100 confirms the ordering environmentat first using the CGI technology and so on (S1302). And if the orderingenvironment is set up, registration of customer information ispermitted. The client enters, into the customer information registrationscreen displayed on the display unit, mandatory items (primary customerinformation) such as a name, e-mail address and so on, and then sends itto the Web page creation support server 100 (S1303).

When the Web page creation support server 100 confirms entering themandatory items (S1304), the Web page creation support server 100registers the customer information in the customer information database160 (S1309). The registered client is permitted to login to use theservices, and as a customer terminal unit 300, the client can receivethe services such as displaying preview screens, and free quotationservices (S1310). In this regard, the system may be configured suchthat, from the e-mail issuing part e-mail issuing part 135, theauthenticated customer terminal unit 300 is notified by e-mail of thelogin ID and password to receive displaying preview screens and freequotation service (S1305).

However, when the server does not confirm entering the mandatory items,the client is prompted to enter the mandatory items (S1306). If enteringof the mandatory items is complete (S1307), the client is registered asa customer terminal unit 300, but if the mandatory items are notentered, a message is displayed on the client display, the customer isnot allowed access to the further services provided (S1308).

In this regard, in the present embodiment, customer registration is aprerequisite for receiving the preview screen display and quotationservice. However, it is needless to say that customer registration doesnot have to be requested at this time, but at any time depending on thesystem configuration. For example, it is possible to configure thesystem to request registration of customer information for the firsttime after displaying the preview screen and providing quotation serviceat the time of temporary ordering.

(2-4) Quotation and Ordering Flow

Next, with reference to FIGS. 16 and 17, description will be given tothe quotation and ordering flow which provides displaying preview screenand free quotation service for the customer terminal unit 300 who hascompleted customer registration.

(2-4-1) Order Placing Login (S1401)

In order for the customer terminal unit 300 to receive displayingpreview screen and free quotation service, it is necessary to login tothe service providing page using the ID and password that have beenissued beforehand (S1401).

(2-4-2) Option Service Selection (S1402)

When the Web page creation support server 100 has authenticated thelogin of the customer terminal unit 300, first, selection of optionservices is performed (S1402). This option service is the flow forseparating the customer terminal unit 300 depending on whether a hostingservice or an electronic commerce service is used in addition to the Webpage creation support service.

A description will be given of the option service selection flow withreference to FIGS. 18 to 25. In this regard, in the present embodiment,for options which can be selected, a hosting service and an electroniccommerce service are exemplified, however, it is needless to say thatthe present invention is not limited to this examples, and can beconfigured to have other option services for selection.

In the option service in the present invention, as shown in FIG. 18, twooptions, that is, a hosting service and an electronic commerce serviceare provided. The customer terminal unit 300 can select the optionsuited to his/her own environment together with the Web page creationsupport service according to the present embodiment by selection one ofthe following: the case of using both the hosting service and theelectronic commerce service (S1402A); the case of using another servicefor a hosting service, but using the electronic commerce serviceprovided by this system (S1402B); the case of the case of using anotherservice for an electronic commerce service, but using the hostingservice provided by this system (S1402C), the case of using anotherservice for both a hosting service and an electronic commerce service,but using only the Web page creation support service of the presentsystem (S1404D).

FIG. 19 shows an example of the option service selection screen of thecase where together with the Web page creation support service, thehosting service and the electronic commerce service are used (S1402A).As shown in the figure, for hosting service, besides ordinary serverservices, authentication, CGI (questionnaire, reservation, andinquiries), domain registration, and domain control are provided. Forelectronic commerce service, shopping basket (or shopping cart),distribution, and charge collection are provided. The customer terminalunit 300 can select necessary option services for his/her own Web page,confirm by the preview screen, and then place the order.

FIG. 20 shows an example of the case where the customer terminal unit300 uses the Web page creation support service according to the presentinvention, and further as an option service, selects a shopping basketservice in order to set up a product sales site. As shown in the figure,when selecting a shopping basket service, as a preview screen, a screenon which the product information and shopping basket are linked isdisplayed.

FIG. 21 further shows the relationship between the product informationpage and the electronic commerce service when creating anelectronic-commerce enabled product information page. As shown in thefigure, a group of pages 602 which is created by the Web page creationsupport service of the present embodiment include a product informationlist page (1) and a product information detail page (2). At the sametime, a group of pages 604 which is created by the option serviceproviding system include a shopping basket page (3) and a checkout page(4). In the example shown in the figure, the product information listpage (1) and the product information detail page (2) are configured tobe linked with the shopping basket page (3).

FIG. 22 shows an example of the product information list page (1). Onthis page, a list of the products is shown in addition to a title of theproduct page or a product category, a product description, and acomment. Further, in each product section, a “view details” button whichis linked to the product information detail page (2), an “add toshopping cart” button which is linked with the shopping basket page (3),and a “view cart” button are disposed.

FIG. 23 shows an example of the product information detail page (2)which is displayed when pressing the “view details” button on theproduct information list page (1) shown in FIG. 22. On this page, theproduct name is displayed as a title, and a product description sectionregarding a product characteristic, a color, and a type are shown inaddition to product basic information such as an enlarged picture of theproduct, a product number, a product name, a price, and so on are shown.Further, on the product information detail page (2), an “add to shoppingcart” button which is linked with the shopping basket page (3), and a“view cart” are disposed.

FIG. 24 shows an example of the shopping basket page (3) which isdisplayed when pressing the “add to shopping cart” button and the “viewcart” button in FIG. 21 or 22. As shown in the figure, the page has astructure including for order content, a product number, a product name,a price, a quantity, a sub-total, and etc., and a purchase amount groundtotal which includes a consumption tax and a shipping charge. Further,on the shopping basket page (3), the “checkout” button liking to thecheckout page (4) and the “continue shopping” button linking to theproduct information list page (1) are individually disposed.

In FIG. 25, an example is shown of the checkout page (4) which isdisplayed when the “checkout” button is pressed in the screen shown inFIG. 24. On this page, a registration screen of the informationregarding a purchaser, a registration screen of the informationregarding a contact place, and a selection screen regarding the paymentmethod are displayed. The customer terminal unit 300 can purchase theselected products by registering necessary information. In this regard,the information entered on this page is transmitted by SSL encryptedcommunication, thus security regarding the information of the inputperson is ensured. Also, on the checkout page (4), the “next” buttonwhich continues the checkout processing and the “return” button whichreturns to the shopping basket page (3) are disposed.

In the above, with reference to FIGS. 18 to 25, a description has beengiven of the option service selection flow of the in the Web pagecreation support system according to the present embodiment. This optionservice selection flow is not necessary performed after logging in asdescribed above, and it does not matter at what timing the optionservice selection flow is performed in the ordering and quotationprocessing flow. Also, for option services which are linked with themain service, that is, the Web page creation support service, it isneedless to say that they are not limited to a hosting service and anelectronic-commerce service.

(2-4-3) Template Information Registration Flow (S1403)

When the customer terminal unit 300 has completed selection of necessaryoption services, then the customer terminal unit 300 is required toregister the template information is requested (S1403). The templateinformation is the necessary information for the customer terminal unit300 to display a preview screen so as to grasp a visual image of thedesired Web page, and to perform automatic quotation.

As already described, the template information includes: (1) designselection, (2) item selection, and (3) item content selection.

(1) In design selection, a frame image of a Web page is selected. Thecustomer terminal unit 300 can select a general preference on the basisof the information stored in the template master 152 of the templateinformation database 150, the overall image of a Web page, for example,“cool atmosphere”, “warm atmosphere”, “pastel atmosphere”, and “heavymetallic atmosphere”.

(2) In item selection, the page items to be placed as the template pagesare selected using the selected frame image. The customer terminal unit300 selects on the basis of the information stored in the template pagemaster 154 of the template information database 150, items to be placedon the Web pages, for example, on the top page, on the company overviewpage, on the recruiting staff page, and on the product information page.

(3) In item contents selection, items to be placed on the selectedtemplate page are selected. The customer terminal unit 300 selectsspecific item contents selected based on the template page master 154,for example, in the case of a top page, company logo, company name, mainimage, catchword, and so on.

(2-4-4) Preview Process Flow (S1404)

When the customer terminal unit 300 selects template information in thestep S1403, he/she can view a preview screen as necessary (S1404). Andby making reference to a preview screen, the customer terminal unit 300can visualize his/her own Web page. Then, if the preview is not inaccordance with his/her preferences, template information can beselected once again.

FIG. 26 shows an example of preview screen processing. When the previewbutton is pressed in the item contents selection screen (S1601), the CGIfor calling a preview editing HTML is called (S1602). The previewediting HTML can read an image file in a predetermined format, forexample, the gif format, and create a preview screen (S1603) to bedisplayed on the display of the customer terminal unit 300.

FIGS. 27 to 30 show concrete examples of the preview images which aredisplayed by the preview screen display processing (S1404) as shown inFIG. 16.

FIG. 27 is a composition example of a preview screen of a top screen.When the customer terminal unit 300 selects, in order for item contentsto be displayed on the top screen, (1) company logo, (2) title (companyname), (3) image (company image), and (4) text (catchword) (1701), thepreview screen shown in the figure is displayed on the display of thecustomer terminal unit 300 (1702).

FIG. 28 is another composition example of a preview screen of a topscreen. When the customer terminal unit 300 selects, for item contentsto be displayed on the top screen, (1) company logo, (2) image (companyimage), and (3) text (catchword) (1801), the preview screen without atitle is displayed on the display of the customer terminal unit 300(1802).

FIG. 29 is a composition example of a preview screen of a productinformation screen. When the customer terminal unit 300 selects, foritem contents to be displayed on the product information screen, (1)image, and (2) text, and specifies four for the number of pieces ofproduct information (1901), the preview screen of four product imageswith text is displayed on the display of the customer terminal unit 300(1902).

FIG. 30 is a composition example of a preview screen of a productinformation screen. When the customer terminal unit 300 selects, foritem contents to be displayed on the product information screen, (1)image, and (2) text, and specifies two for the number of pieces ofproduct information (2001), the preview screen of four product imageswith text is displayed on the display of the customer terminal unit 300(2001).

In this regard, a unit image constituting the preview screen preferablyincludes a plurality of image files. By this arrangement, it is possibleto prevent a malicious customer terminal unit 300 having maliciousintent from downloading image files, and from pirating and divertingimage files. Also, these image files may be the image files selected inaccordance with the template information using the image files createdpreviously, or they may be the image files such that, before sendingfrom the Web page creation support server 100, a preview screen iscreated in accordance with the template information, and then thepreview screen is divided into the image screens.

(2-4-5) Creator Selection Flow (S1405)

With reference to FIG. 16 again, depending on the system design, it ispossible for the customer terminal unit 300 to select a creator terminalunit 400 (S1405) after making reference to a preview screen in the stepS1404. For example, the Web page creation support server 100 may suggestcreator terminal units 400 in accordance with a Web image selected bythe customer terminal unit 300, and the customer terminal unit 300 makesreference to the work histories of the creator terminal units 400 toselect a creator terminal unit 400 to whom the Web page creation job isrequested. Naturally, it is needless to say that the system can beconfigured to omit the creator selection processing (S1405).

(2-4-6) Automatic Quotation Flow (S1406)

The customer terminal unit 300 can use the automatic quotation functionafter template information has been registered in the step S1403. Whenthe customer terminal unit 300 selects automatic quotation, the Web pagecreation support server 100 can make reference to the templateinformation database 150, and automatically quote the cost of creating aWeb page based on the template information selected by the customerterminal unit 300, and display it on the display of the customerterminal unit 300. If a creator terminal unit 400 is selected in thestep 1405, the unit price of the selected creator terminal unit 400 isreferred to for automatic quotation.

If the customer terminal unit 300 is satisfied with the quotation amountdisplayed in step S1406, the system proceeds to the ordering processing.However, if the customer terminal unit 300 is not satisfied with thequotation computed by the automatic quotation in step S1407, thecustomer terminal unit 300 can return to step S1403, and select thetemplate information once again.

(2-4-7) Temporary Ordering Flow (S1501 to S1503)

When the customer terminal unit 300 makes a home page creation requestto the Web page creation support server 100 after referencing thepreview screen and the result of automatic quotation, the systemproceeds to step S1501 as shown in FIG. 17. Here, the customer terminalunit 300 is presented with the articles, such as notes and agreements,needed for requesting Web page creation, and if the customer terminalunit 300 agrees to the articles, the system proceeds to the temporaryorder processing (S1502).

The temporary order processing is the processing for temporarilyreceiving a Web page creation request from the customer terminal unit300, and for setting a time lag in order to determine whether or not toactually receive the order of the creation request. After temporaryordering, more detailed information (secondary customer information) ofthe customer terminal unit 300 is requested for registration (S1503).This secondary customer information is necessary in the credit inquiryprocessing performed in the next step S1504.

(2-4-8) Credit Inquiry Flow (S1504)

The Web page creation support server 100 makes a credit inquiry of therelevant customer terminal unit 300 to the credit server 500 (S1504)based on the secondary customer information registered in step S1503.

Thus, with the present system, credit search regarding the paymentability of the customer terminal unit 300 is performed before placing anactual order of the Web page creation job, thereby making it possible toavoid a situation where payment for Web page creation cannot becollected.

(2-4-9) Actual Ordering Flow (S1506)

If the result of the credit inquiry is affirmative in the step S1505,the system proceeds to actual ordering (S1506). If the result of thecredit inquiry is negative, order rejection processing is performed(S1507). In the order rejection processing, for example, the system canbe configured such that review of whether to receive a request of orderfrom the customer terminal unit 300 or to reject it is performedregardless of credit inquiry result, and if the result is negativeagain, notification of the order rejection is sent to the customerterminal unit 300 by email.

After completing actual ordering in this way, the system proceeds to thejob control flow (S1507). Next, with reference to FIG. 31, detaileddescription is given to the Web page creation job flow.

(2-5) Web Page Creation Job Flow

As already described, a Web page creation job which is ordered isprocessed for every ordering unit as a project after an actual orderingof the customer terminal unit 300. Additionally, the distinguished pointof the present system is that when a project is started (S2101), a jobroom for each project is set up (S2102).

A job room is a virtual control space in which the progress status of aWeb page creation job is controlled for every ordering unit. In anembodiment as shown in FIG. 31, a job room of one project is organizedto be recognized as a different control space depending on a entitywhich relates to a Web page creation job.

Specifically, for an entity which orders a Web page creation job, thatis, a customer terminal unit 300, a job room is recognized a customerjob room 2110. For a Web page creation support server 100 who controls aWeb page creation job, a job room is recognized a controller job room2120. Also, for an actual operator of a Web page creation job, a creatorterminal unit 400, a job room is recognized a creator job room 2130.

Since these job rooms 2110, 2120, and 2130 are virtual control spaceshaving the same project as a corresponding object, it is possible foreach entity to recognize them as different jobs, or to recognize them asthe same room.

Next, an outline of a Web page creation job flow will be described bytracking time series the information exchanges among three rooms; acustomer job room 2110, a controller job room 2120, and a creator jobroom 2130.

First, the customer terminal unit 300 uploads data of Web contents to beplaced on a Web page to a customer job room 2110 (receiving a draft).Data uploaded from the customer terminal unit 300 is, for example, inthe case of a top page as shown in FIG. 27, files of company logo,company name (title), company picture image, and catchword.

Uploaded data is confirmed for draft receipt in the controller job room2120 (S2121).

Apart from the progress of a Web page creation job, the creator terminalunit 400 makes a report of his/her schedule such as his/her own loadingstatus, and updates its records. Such a schedule of the creator terminalunit 400 is sent appropriately from a creator job room 2130 to acontroller job room 2120. The Web page creation support server 100performs the staffing processing (S2122) after confirming receipt ofdraft from the customer terminal unit 300 based on schedule reportingfrom the creator terminal unit 400.

As already described, the staffing processing (S2121) is an operation toselect the best suited creator terminal unit 400 for an ordered Web pagecreation, and to assign the Web page creation job to the selectedcreator terminal unit 400.

Here, with reference to FIG. 32, a staffing flow in a controller jobroom 2120 will be described.

First, when a customer terminal unit 300 make a Web page creation order(S2201), an order requirement is extracted (S2202). The orderrequirement extracted here includes a delivery date and the preferencesof the customer terminal unit 300. The preferences of the customerterminal unit 300 can be ascertained with reference to, for example, aWeb page image selected by the customer terminal unit 300 in the designselection of the template information, for instance, the informationthat cool design has been selected.

Next, a creator terminal unit 400 in accordance with the orderingrequirement is selected from the creator information database. Forexample, if the customer terminal unit 300 wants a “cool atmosphere” Webpage to be created within two months, a creator terminal unit 400 isselected from the creator terminal units 400 which are good at creating“cool atmosphere” Web pages and which can complete the operation withintwo months.

Then, a decision is made regarding whether or not Web page creation isrequested of the selected creator terminal unit 400 (S2204). Thejudgement at this step is made either by the Web page creation supportserver or the customer terminal unit 300 can make the final judgement.And if it is judged OK to request the Web page creation to the creatorterminal unit 400, a Web page creation request is actually made to thecreator terminal unit 400.

Now, with reference to FIG. 21, the creator terminal unit 400 who staffsthe controller job room 2120 confirms the job content and its schedule,and receives the order if it is possible to accept the job (S2132).

And if the creator terminal unit 400 receives the order, a roughschedule for the Web page creation job through completion can be made,thus, the schedule is reported to the customer terminal unit 300 via thecustomer job room 2110 (S2112).

After confirming receipt of the order, in the controller job room 2120,an e-mail and the like are sent to the creator terminal unit 400 toprompt him/her to upload information of the Web contents to the customerterminal unit 300, and to download it. By receiving the report, thecreator terminal unit 400 starts the Web page creation job (S2133).

The progress status of the Web page creation job which has been startedin such a way is controlled by the Web page creation support server 100via the controller job room 2120 (s2123). And in case of the creatorterminal unit 400's job being delayed, he/she is urged by e-mail and soon.

When the creator terminal unit 400 completes a web page draft, he/sheuploads the draft to the controller job room via the controller job room2120 (S2134). The Web page creation support server 100 notifies thecustomer terminal unit 300 of the completion of uploading the draft bye-mail and the like, and urges confirmation of the Web page draft whichhas been uploaded.

The customer terminal unit 300 accesses a customer job room 2110, anddownloads the Web page draft delivered from the creator terminal unit400 or confirms it on the Web (S2113). And after confirming the contentsof a Web page draft, the customer directs the creator terminal unit 400to modify it if necessary via a controller job room 2120 (S2114).

The creator terminal unit 400 performs modification until apredetermined delivery date following modification direction sent fromthe controller job room 2120, and uploads the modification result to theWeb page creation support server 100 via the creator job room 2130(S2135).

A series of operations; uploading a Web page draft (S2134), downloadinga Web page draft (S2113), modification direction (S2134), modification(S2135) are repeated as many times as necessary, and if the customerterminal unit 300 determines that no more repetition is necessary, thecustomer terminal unit 300 reports confirming the completion of the Webpages to the customer job room 2110 (S2115).

The creator terminal unit 400 is notified of the completion via thecreator job room 2130, the creator terminal unit 400 closes the Web pagecreation job of the relevant project (S2136).

Also, in the controller job room 2120, closing the Web page creation jobof the relevant project is confirmed (S2125), the status is changed tothe delivery processing (S2125).

The delivery processing can be performed by prompting the customerterminal unit 300 via the customer job room 2110 to download Web pagefiles. In this case, the customer terminal unit 300 performs deployingWeb pages on a Web server. On the other hand, the Web page creationsupport server 100 can perform the delivery operation of Web pages tothe Web server specified by the customer terminal unit 300 by anoptional request from the customer terminal unit 300.

When a series of Web page creation job is completed in such in thismanner, the job room is closed and the project is completed (S2105). Inthis regard, in the above-described embodiment, a system configurationis shown in which the job room relating to the relevant job is closedwhen the Web page creation job is completed at the same time. However,the present system is not limited to this example, but can be applied tothe case where the job room continues to exist after closing the projectto cope with the situation where the customer terminal unit 300 updatesthe created Web pages.

(2-6) E-Mail Issuing Flow

As the last description of the Web page creation support systemaccording to the present invention, an e-mail issuing flow which isperformed by the e-mail issuing part of the Web page creation supportserver 100 will be described with reference to FIG. 33.

As shown in FIG. 33, an e-mail issuing part is usually in a waitingstate (S2301). However, when a status change action occurs in a system(S2302), it is determined whether or not an e-mail regarding the actionis required (S2303). If the action requires issuing an e-mail, an e-mailis generated automatically (S2304), and the e-mail is sent to aspecified address (S2305). However, if it is determined that an e-mailregarding the action was not required in the step S2304, the systemreturns to the waiting state, and waits for the next action.

Here, as status change actions, various actions are assumed depending onthe system configuration. For example, as actions from the customerterminal unit 300, if enumerated in time series, there are registrationaction of customer information, login action, registration action oftemplate information, requirement action of preview screen display,requirement action of quotation display, temporary ordering action,registration action of credit information, actual ordering action,upload action of information of Web content, direct modification action,final confirmation action of draft, and so on.

As the actions form the Web page creation support server 100, there arerequest and confirmation action of customer information registration,issuing ID/PW action, temporary order receiving action, credit inquiryaction, actual order receiving action, issuing job room account action,upload confirmation action, staffing action, directing download action,delivery action, and so on.

Also, as the actions form the creator terminal unit 400, creatorinformation registration action, schedule reporting action, operationcontents confirmation action, order receiving action, draft uploadaction, and so on.

Issuing an e-mail is not necessary for all of these actions, but in thecase where smooth operation of a Web page creation job is facilitated byissuing an e-mail, emails are issued automatically and appropriately.

(2-7) Update Processing Flow

In the above, a description has been given of the new creation flow ofan Web page in the Web page creation support system according to thepresent embodiment, however, the present system can also be applied tothe case where a delivered Web page is updated.

Before describing a Web page update processing specifically, adescription will be given of some of the cases where Web page update isnecessary taking examples of update of the product information pages.For example, there is the case where at the first stage of new creation,50 pieces of product information containing only text data have beenlisted on the product information page, and then image data need to beadded to all of the products. In another case, at the first stage of newcreation, 50 pieces of product information containing only text datahave been listed on the product information page, and then image dataneeds to be added to each of 10 pieces of these products. The other 40pieces of the products are kept unchanged, but still 30 pieces ofproducts need to be added. Furthermore, five pieces of the productscontain “text+image”, the other 25 pieces contain only text data. Instill another case, only the sequences of the products on the list needto be changed. As described above, there are various cases when Webpages need to be changed, however, by using the template information inthe Web page creation support system according to the presentembodiment, it is possible to flexibly satisfy the various needs of thecustomer terminal unit 300.

Next, with reference to FIG. 34, a description will be given of theupdate processing flow according to the present embodiment. In thisregard, such processing as template information selection processing andautomatic quotation processing, Web page update processing and so on,which is performed in the update processing flow, is similar to the caseof the Web page new creation, so that the detailed description will beomitted of the duplicated portions.

First, when Web page update processing is selected on the top screen,authentication of the customer terminal unit 300 is demanded. Usually,when the Web page to be updated is newly created, the customer terminalunit 300 has performed user registration or customer registration. Thusby entering the registered user name and password, the customer terminalunit 300 can login to the update processing flow in the present system(S3401).

After logging in, among the delivered projects, the customer terminalunit 300 refers to the Web page creation project in which the contentthereof is to be updated. Here, according to the present system,creation of a Web page is based on the template information.Accordingly, by referring to the project of the Web page to be updated,it is possible to easily refer to the template information which isrelated to the Web page to be updated, thus the update (change,addition, deletion) work of the template information can be simplifieddrastically.

In this manner, after referring to the project of the Web page to beupdated, the customer terminal unit 300 performs change, addition, ordeletion in accordance with the update intention of the templateinformation (S3403). Here, as described previously, since the templateinformation consists of design, item, and item content, design selection(S3404), item selection (S3405), and item content setting (S3406) areperformed in sequence, and the customer terminal unit 300 can grasp theoutline of the update.

Then, in the same manner as new creation, after referring to the previewscreen based on the selected template information, automatic quotationis performed as necessary (S3407). If the customer terminal unit 300 issatisfied with the quotation content, he/she places the order of the Webpage update. For ordering, it is also possible to be configured toproceed from the temporary order processing, the credit processing, andthe actual order processing in the same manner as in new creation. Also,since the credit processing of the customer terminal unit 300 iscompleted in the case of update, the system can be configured to proceedto the actual order processing by omitting the temporary orderprocessing and credit processing.

In any case, when receiving the Web page update request, the Web pagecreation support server 100 sets up a new job room, and starts the Webpage update job (S3408). For the structure of the update job room andthe processing flow thereof, the description is almost similar to thedescription of the job flow of the Web page new creation with referenceto FIG. 31, so that the detailed description will be omitted here.

When the Web page update processing has been completed in such a manner,and the Web page with the updated content has been delivered, the postprocessing such as the charge collection is performed (S3409). In thismanner, a series of the Web page update processing is complete.

Next, with reference to FIG. 35, by taking an example of the updateprocessing of the product information page, a brief description will begiven of the page structure of a series of Web page update processing.

As described later, as shown in FIG. 36, when the “update” button isselected and pressed on the general top page of the Web page creationsupport system, the processing goes to the update processing page, and acertain project is selected from the delivered project list, theprocessing goes to the top page of the product information update pageshown in FIG. 35. This product information update page top page (S3501)consists of a page/product number of addition specification page(S3502), a page deletion page (S3503), product deletion page (S3504), apage addition place specification/replacement page (S3505), a productaddition place specification/replacement top page (S3506), and a productinsertion top page (S3507). Thus, the pages are formed such that thevarious processing regarding the update (addition, change, deletion) ofthe product information page can be performed along with the templateinformation. Each of these pages can be selected in parallel, and thepages are also formed such that selection can be performed in thesequence: the page/product number of addition specification page(S3501); the page deletion page (S3503); the product deletion page(S3504); the page addition place specification/replacement page (S3505);the product addition place specification/replacement top page (S3506);and the product insertion top page (S3507).

The page/product number of addition specification page (S3501) is thepage for adding a product information page, and adding the number ofproducts. The page deletion page (S3503) is the page for performing thedeletion processing of the unnecessary product information pages.Similarly, the product deletion page (S3504) is the page for performingdeletion of the unnecessary products. The page addition placespecification/replacement page (S3505) is the page for adding a new pageand for performing replacement of the places. The product addition placespecification/replacement top page (S3506) is the page for specifyingthe product addition place and replacing the products. The productinsertion top page (S3507) is the page for inserting a new product. Aproduct insertion top page (S3508) is the page for changing products. Inthis regard, embodiments of these product information update processingflow will be described later in connection with FIGS. 88 to 96.

(3) Embodiments

Next, in order to get better understanding of the web page creationsupport system according to the present embodiment, with reference tothe accompanying drawings, description will be given to screen formatexamples of the Web site to which the Web page creation support systemaccording to the present invention is implemented.

In this regard, in the following drawings, as a Web page browsingsoftware (browser), Netscape Navigator provided from Netscape is used.However, the present invention is not limited to this example, but canbe used with other browser software, for example, Internet Explorerprovided by Microsoft.

(3-1) Top Page and its Related Pages

FIG. 36 shows a “TOP” page which is the top page of a Web site. On the“TOP” page, links are formed to the pages; an “About this site” pagewhich gives a description of the site, a “How to use this site” pagewhich shows how to use the site, a “Web page creation” page on which anew Web page is created in accordance with template information and adelivered Web page is updated, and an “Upload material” page which isrelated to a job room. In this regard, under “Web page creation”, the“New creation” button and the “Update” button are disposed. By pressingeach of the buttons, the processing is configured to move either to anew creation processing flow screen or an update processing flow screen.

FIG. 37 shows a display example of an “About this site” page. Althoughdetails are not shown in the figure, on this page, the description isgiven about the contents of the Web page creation service and so on.Also, This page contains the link to “Article” page which describesnotes about using this site in addition to the links to “How to use thissite” page, “Web page creation” page which includes the “New creation”button and the “Update” button, “TOP” page, and “Upload material” page.Further, although not shown, it is possible to form this page to containlinks to “Staffing entry” page which registers creator information,“Registration” page which registers customer information.

FIG. 38 shows a display example of “About this site” page. On this page,the steps for actually create a Web page are described using the Webpage creation support system according to the present embodiment.Therefore, on this page, the links are formed to an “Practical examples”page which shows application cases of the Web page creation supportservice, a “General flow” page which introduces visually the steps tocreate a Web page using the Web page creation support system in additionto the links to “How to use this site” page, “Web page creation” pagewhich includes the “New creation” button and the “Update” button, “TOP”page, and “Upload material” page.

FIG. 39 shows a display example of an “Practical examples” page. On thispage, the links are formed to a “Recommended items” page, a “Recommendeddesign” page, a “Business-type-specific samples” page, and so on, thus,users can reference Web page samples which are formed using this systembefore proceeding to a specific quotation and ordering processing. Also,the “Practical examples” page can be linked to each creator page, andcan be configured to be a page selected by the customer in accordancewith his/her own taste.

(3-2) Creator Information Registration Page

FIGS. 40 to 43 show “Staff entry” page as an example of a creatorinformation registration page for a client to register a creator to thepresent system.

In order for a client who has accessed the Web page creation supportsite to be registered as a creator who executes a Web page creation job,he/she needs to register creator information on “Staff entry” page asshown in FIGS. 40 to 43. For creator information, career informationsuch as job history and work history are registered to give an idea ofthe creator career and skill as shown in FIG. 41 in addition to contactinformation such as a name and e-mail address as shown in FIG. 40, andschedule information. Moreover, in order to perform the Web pagecreation job smoothly, information as shown in FIG. 42 such as softwarein use, OS and so on is registered. By pressing the “Send” button in thescreen shown in FIG. 43, the contents entered here are sent to thecreator information database 180 of the Web page creation support server100 and managed.

The Web page creation support server 100 can perform staffing thecreator among the creators who are managed in the creator informationdatabase 180 in accordance with the customer's preferences when thecustomer makes a Web page creation request. Also, the customerhimself/herself can refer to the work histories of the creators who areregistered in the creator information database 180, and can select thecreator in accordance with his/her taste to make a Web page creationrequest.

(3-3) Customer Information Registration Page

FIGS. 44 to 49 show “Registration” page and the related pages;“Registration Confirmation” page and “Registration Completion” page asan example of a customer information registration page for performingcustomer registration in order for a client to formally use the system.

In order for a client who has accessed the Web page creation supportsite to receive the Web page creation service, the client needs toregister customer information in the “Registration” page as shown inFIGS. 44 to 46. Customer information includes optional registrationitems such as address and working place as shown in FIGS. 45 and 46 inaddition to the mandatory registration items (primary customerinformation) such as a name and e-mail address as shown in FIG. 44.

When a client enters at least the mandatory registration items, andpresses the confirmation button in the screen shown in FIG. 46,“Registration confirmation” page is displayed as shown in FIGS. 47 and48. When the client confirms the contents and then press the “Registerwith the above contents” button in the screen shown in FIG. 48, theregistration contents is sent to the Web page creation server, and“Registration completion” page is displayed as shown in FIG. 49. In this“Registration completion” page, ID and password are displayed in orderto view a preview screen described below and to use an automaticquotation service. In this regard, ID and password can not only bedisplayed on the screen shown in FIG. 49, but also notified afterward tothe e-mail address which is registered as customer information.

(3-4) Web Page New Creation Ordering Processing Related Pages

Next, ordering processing related pages of the Web page creation supportsystem according to the present embodiment will be described withreference to FIGS. 50 to 66.

FIG. 50 shows an example of “New creation” page which is the page to beauthenticated to login to the ordering processing page of the Web pagecreation support system according to the present embodiment. Thecustomer terminal unit 300 logs in to the “New creation” page and thenenters template information, thereby, displaying a preview screen andautomatic quotation are performed based on this template information.

As already described, in order to display preview screen and to receiveautomatic quotation service based on the Web page creation supportsystem according to the present embodiment, the customer needs toperform customer registration and receive issued ID and password. In“New creation” screen as shown in FIG. 50, the customer terminal unit300 enters ID and password which are given by customer registration,thus the customer can login the subsequent page for template informationentering.

As already described, after logging in, the customer terminal unit 300determines the taste of a Web page frame as template information: (1)design selection and page items to be displayed on a Web page aredetermined, (2) item selection, and (3) item contents selection fordetermining the contents to be placed on the page items on a Web page.(3) The item contents selection is performed in sequence in accordancewith the screens.

FIGS. 51 and 52 show an example of “Design selection” page whichperforms design selection among the above-described template informationset-up. The types of design which can be selected are predetermined atthe Web page creation support server side, and in the illustratedexample, “simple image”, “elegant image”, “cool image”, “hard image”,“pretty image” and so on are shown together with their thumbnails. Also,for color tone, in the illustrated example, for example, in the case of“simple image”, the screen is generated to give selection of color tonefrom three types of colors; sky blue, green, and blue. In the case ofthe “elegant image”, the screen is generated to give selection of colortone from three types of colors; black, gray, and green. In the case ofthe “cool image”, the screen is generated to give selection of colortone from three types of colors; “violet”, “gray”, and “water”. In thecase of the “hard image”, the screen is generated to give selection ofcolor tone from three types of colors; “black”, “blue”, and “gray”. Inthe case of the “pretty image”, the screen is generated to giveselection of color tone from three types of colors; “yellow”, “green”,and “blue”.

FIGS. 53 and 54 shows an example of “Item selection” page which selectsWeb page items among the template information setting. In an exampleshown in FIGS. 53 and 54, the page items which can be selected are “Top”page item, “What's New” page item, “Company overview” page item,“Recruiting staff” page item, “Product information” page item, several“Free format” page item, but the present system is not limited to theseexamples and it is needless to say that the template information whichis necessary for a Web page creation is freely set up.

The customer terminal unit 300 can select, in the screen shown in FIGS.53 and 54, the pages to be displayed as his/her own Web pages. In thisregard, “Top” page is the first page to be displayed to any client whenhe/she accesses Web page, and it is a mandatory page item, thus, it isformed such that the customer terminal unit 300 cannot determine whetherto contain it or not.

FIGS. 55 to 57 shows an example of “Item contents setting” page on whichthe customer terminal unit 300 selects the item contents to be displayedspecifically on the page item selected as Web pages by the customer.

First, “Item contents setting” pages shown in FIGS. 55 and 56 are about“Top” page. The pages are formed to select freely the following pages tobe contained on the top page, for example: (1) creation of company logoimage; (2) creation of title (for example, company name, etc.); (3)creation of a main image (for example, the image or photograph of thecompany); (4) catchword (for example, a catchword for appealing thecompany); (5) description (placing an overview description of acompany); (6) promotion window (placing products and services to appealusing photo, title, text and so on).

Also, on each page for setting the template information, the “Preview”button is prepared. When “Item contents setting” is performed,registration of template information is completed in any case. At thismoment, the customer terminal unit 300 can press “Preview” screen, andfollow the preview screen processing flow as shown in FIG. 26 to viewthe preview screen about “Top” page as shown in FIGS. 27 and 28, thus,grasp the overall image of the web pages to be requested.

“Item contents setting” page as shown in FIG. 57 is about “Productinformation”. Here, the screen is formed such that the customer terminalunit 300 can select in what style the product information is displayed,for example, whether either only image or text is displayed, or both ofthem are displayed, and in addition, determine how much productinformation is displayed.

Also in this screen, the customer terminal unit 300 can press the“Preview” button, and follow the preview screen processing flow as shownin FIG. 26 to view the preview screen about “Top” page as shown in FIGS.29 and 30, thus, grasp the overall image of the Web pages to berequested.

As described above, when template information is registered in the Webpage creation support server, the cost necessary for creating Web pagesin accordance with the registered template information is displayed as“Quotation” page as shown in FIG. 58 almost in real time. If thecustomer terminal unit 300 does not satisfy the quotation amount, thecustomer can go back to “Design selection” page, “Item selection” page,and “Item contents setting” page, and modify the registered contents, anthen view the new quotation corresponding to the modified contents inreal time.

When the customer has accepted the displayed quotation amount, thecustomer presses “Go to placing order” button in the screen shown inFIG. 58 to cause the system to move to the ordering information inputscreen shown in FIG. 59 in order to proceed to the ordering which ischaracteristic in the Web page creation support system according to thepresent embodiment.

Here, according to the present embodiment of the Web page creationsupport system, before the Web page creation support server 100 receivesorder of the Web page creation job from the customer terminal unit 300,some requirements are shown to the customer terminal unit 300 to performorder placing processing.

One of the ordering processing is entering detailed information aboutthe customer terminal unit 300 which is requested by “Orderinginformation input” pages shown in FIGS. 59 to 61. Here, registration ofmore detailed information (secondary customer information) is requestedin addition to the customer information which is requested when usingpreview screen and automatic quotation service of the Web page creationsystem. Information requested here is the information necessary for thecredit inquiry described below, thus, if the customer terminal unit 300is an individual client, the information includes personal information,such as an address, credit card number, etc., and if the customerterminal unit 300 is a business enterprise, the information includes thecapital amount of the enterprise, location of the main office,correspondent bank, and so on.

When predetermined items are entered in “Ordering information input”pages in this manner, the customer terminal unit 300 is requested, asthe next requirement, to accept to the agreement which is shown on the“article” page as shown in FIG. 62. On this “article”, in general, thecopyright and disclaimer of the Web page creation support site must beconfirmed. When the customer terminal unit 300 presses the “Agree to theabove articles” button on the “article” page, the system displays“Quotation” page as shown in FIGS. 63 to 65.

In “Quotation” page as shown in FIGS. 63 to 65, the customer informationentered in “Ordering information input” page is displayed as“Application description contents” in addition to the quotation contentsshown in FIG. 58 of the Web page creation cost shown in the “Quotation”page shown in FIGS. 59 to 61. When the customer terminal unit 300confirms the quotation amount and customer information, and then pressesthe “Send with the following contents” button in the screen shown inFIG. 65, the contents is sent to the credit processing part 120 of theWeb page creation support server 100, and credit inquiry is performedbased on the registered contents. Also, on the display of the customerterminal unit 300, “Temporary order” page is displayed as shown in FIG.66.

(3-5) Credit Inquiry Page

FIG. 67 shows an example of “Status control” page which performs projectstatus control including credit inquiry in the Web page creation supportserver 100. The screen comprises three frames.

The upper frame shows a list of projects of the customer which is in theprocess of credit inquiry. Since a credit inquiry would not beenperformed yet, the status column shows “In credit inquiring”. To performcredit inquiry, the customer presses the “Credit” button to go to thecredit inquiry processing.

The middle frame shows a list of projects of the customer which hascompleted the process of credit inquiry. The result of the creditinquiry is displayed in the stop-section column. For the project of thecustomer whose result of credit inquiry is affirmative, the column isdisplayed as “OK”. For the project of the customer whose result ofcredit inquiry is negative, the column is displayed as “Credit X”. Forthe project of the customer whose result of credit inquiry is suspended,the column is displayed as “Suspended”. In this regard, the “status”columns are all “No draft entered”, but this status will be changed asthe project proceeds.

In addition, the lower frame shows a list of projects in which the Webpage creation job is completed and delivery of the Web page draft iscompleted. Therefore, the status column is displayed as “Deliverycompleted”.

FIGS. 68 and 69 show the screen when “Credit” button is pressed in theupper frame of the “Status control” shown in FIG. 67. Here, the customerinformation entered in the “ordering information input” page shown inFIGS. 59 to 61 is displayed in a tabular format. Since credit inquiry isnot completed, the status line is displayed as “In credit inquiry” inthe lower part of the screen in FIG. 69. When the “Issuing job contactmemo” is pressed on this screen, a credit inquiry screen to the creditserver is displayed.

FIGS. 70 and 71 show an “Job contact memo” page. The customerinformation on the “Job contact memo” page is sent to the credit server,and credit inquiry is performed on the credit server. The credit resultis sent back to the Web page creation support server 100 as “OK”, “NG”,and “Needs talk”. In this regard, FIGS. 70 and 71 show the job contactmemo displayed in a format which can be printed out and saved, but canbe generally in a tabular format.

(3-6) Web Page Creation Project Control Page

Next, description will be given to the progress control of Web pagecreation job which is performed via job room with reference to FIGS. 72to 76.

FIG. 72 shows an entrance/exit screen of the job room to be set up forevery ordering unit as “Material upload”. The customer terminal unit 300can enter into the job room by entering ID, password, and, in addition,project ID assigned from the actual ordering in the screen shown in FIG.72.

FIG. 73 shows a final confirmation screen of quotation. If templateinformation is changed after the Web creation job has been started,operations are started all over again, thus, the customer terminal unit300 is notified and asked for agreement in this screen that no furtherchange of the template can be allowed. Of course, if a change is allowedfreely after the start of the project, the page shown in FIG. 73 can beomitted.

FIGS. 74 to 76 show job control screens displayed to the controllers ofthe Web page creation support server 100. The tables shown in FIGS. 74to 76 are display examples of a controller job room which is a virtualcontrol screen of the Web page creation support server 100.

FIG. 74 shows all the projects which are currently in progress togetherwith their statuses. On the other hand, FIG. 75 shows only the projectsof which drafts are have not entered. The controller can grasp theprogress status of each project via the controller job room, and, forexample, if Web contents is not entered by a deadline, the controllercan urge the customer to enter the draft.

FIG. 76 shows a structure of a controller job room. By this screen, thestate of receiving a draft and schedule can be grasped at one glance. Inaddition, information about the creator who actually performs Web pagecreation is also displayed. Information about the customer who requeststhe project can be displayed in a tabular format by pressing the“Company information” button shown at the upper left corner of thescreen.

(3-7) Web Page Update Processing Related Page

In the above, a description has been given of the case where thecustomer terminal unit 300 requests a Web page new creation on thenetwork in the Web page creation support system according to the presentembodiment, however, the Web page creation support system according tothe present embodiment can also be applied to the case where the contentof the Web page is to be changed, added, or deleted after a finished Webpage has been delivered. Next, with reference to FIGS. 77 to 96, adescription will be given of the structure example and display examplesof the pages which are related to the Web page update processing.

When the customer terminal unit 300 who intends to update Web pagesaccesses the site provided by the Web page creation support server, andpresses the “update” button among the “Web page creation” item on thegeneral top page shown in FIG. 36, the processing goes to theauthentication screen shown in FIG. 77. Here, the customer terminal unit300 enters the ID and the password given at customer registration whichis performed at the Web page new creation, presses the “login” button,and receives authentication from the Web page creation support server100 whether or not the regular user.

When the Web page creation support server 100 has authenticated thecustomer terminal unit 300 who has accessed as a regular user, the loginscreen shown in FIG. 77 moves to the delivered project list screen shownin FIG. 78. On this project list screen, the delivered projectsregarding the same customer terminal unit 300 are displayed togetherwith the creation time period. When the customer terminal unit 300selects the project to be updated from the displayed list and pressesthe “update” button, the processing goes to the item selection screenshown in FIG. 79.

On the item selection screen shown in FIG. 79, the pages which can beupdated in the Web page creation support system according to the presentembodiment are displayed. The example in the figure is an example of theWeb page creation support system aimed at companies. On this selectionscreen, it is possible to select a “top” page which is displayed atfirst when accessing the home page, a “What's New” page which displaysthe latest update information of the home page, a “company overview”page which displays the overview of the company and the company policy,a “recruitment” page which displays the recruitment information, a“product information” page which displays the information about theproducts and services provided by the company, and a “fee format” pagewhich can display introduction of new products and IR information.

These items are basically optional setting items, however, only the “toppage” is formed as a mandatory item. Also, a plurality of pages can beset up for the “free format” page. The customer terminal unit 300 canselect, on the item selection screen, pages to be newly added and thepages to be changed.

In this regard, the system is configured such that when item selectionscreen shown in FIG. 79 is displayed, a previous setting content screenpops up at the same time. The previous setting content shown in FIG. 80is constantly displayed from the design selection to the quotationprocessing in the update processing according to the present embodiment.The customer can enter modification and addition while comparing withthe previous setting content on the window shown in FIG. 80.

In the example shown in the figure, in the previous setting content,“cool/blue” is selected for the design selection, for the itemselection, “top page”, “What's New”, “company overview”, “productinformation”, “free format 1” are selected. The customer terminal unit300 can perform the most suitable update processing with reference tothese contents.

In FIGS. 81 and 82, an example is shown of the item content settingregarding the top page. As shown in the figures, for each setting item,four options are basically prepared, that is, “no change”, “newaddition”, “change”, and “delete”. Also, for the selection items whichcan be changed, “company logo image creation”, “title creation”, “mainimage creation”, “catchword”, “description”, and “promotion window” areprepared. Also, for a specific selection item, display options aredifferent depending on the project status. For example, “new additionspecification” and “change content specification” of “title creation”,“only image” and “only text” are displayed as options. Also, for “mainimage creation”, “number of images to be newly added” is displayed as anoption, and further for specification of change image and delete image,the screen is formed such that an image number can be selected bychecking the number. Further, for the “new addition specification” of“promotion window”, “only image”, “only text”, and “image+text” aredisplayed as options. Also, for “change content specification” of“promotion window”, the screen is formed such that “only image”, “onlytext”, “image+text”, “title”, and “change link” can be selected bychecking each of the items. Furthermore, for “delete imagespecification” of “promotion window”, the screen is formed such that“only image” and “only text” can be displayed.

In this manner, regarding item content setting, for each selection item,items which can be selected are displayed minutely depending on theproject status, thus the customer terminal unit 300 can process thechange processing easily and without making mistakes only by selectingthe items which need to be changed from the displayed items.

In FIG. 83, an example is shown of the item content setting regarding a“What's New” page. The screen is formed by a “new additionspecification” item, a “change content specification” item, and a“delete content specification” item. The “new addition specification”item is formed such that the customer can alternatively select “newlyadd” or “do not newly add”. A “change content specification” item and“delete content specification” item are formed such that the customerspecifies the number of the items which indicates one or more than oneitems.

In FIG. 84, an example is shown of the item content setting regarding a“company overview” page. The screen is formed, as shown in the figure,by an “image creation” item and “description” item. For the “imagecreation” item, four options, that are, “no change”, “new addition”,“change”, and “delete” are prepared. The “description” item is formed toperform an alternative selection: “no change” or “change”.

In FIG. 85, an example is shown of the item content setting regarding a“recruitment” page. As shown in the figure, the screen is formed by a“content” item, and is formed for performing an alternative selection:“no change” or “change”.

In FIG. 86, an example is shown of the item content setting regarding a“free format” page. The screen is formed by a “title creation” item, an“image” item and a “description” item. Each item is formed forperforming an alternative selection: “no change” or “change”.

Here, when describing the product information page in detail, as shownin FIGS. 87 to 95, update of the product information is performed on theproduct information item selection screen and item content settingscreen.

In FIG. 87, an example is shown of the item selection screen of theproduct information. As shown in the figure, in this screen, thecustomer can select each of the items: “delete page”, “delete product”,“replace page”, “add new page”, “replace product”, “add new product”,“insert product”, and “change product”.

In FIG. 88, an example is shown of the item content setting screen ofthe “product page deletion”. As shown in the figure, on this screen, thecustomer specifies the product page to be deleted, and can change thetemplate information regarding product page deletion.

In FIG. 89, an example is shown of the item content setting screen ofthe “product deletion”. As shown in the figure, on this screen, thecustomer specifies the page on which the product is listed and thesequence number of the product, and can change the template informationregarding product deletion.

In FIG. 90, an example is shown of the item content setting screen ofthe “page replacement”. As shown in the figure, on this screen, thecustomer specifies the page of the replacement source and the page ofthe replacement destination, and can change the template informationregarding page replacement.

In FIG. 91, an example is shown of the item content setting screen ofthe “product page new addition”. As shown in the figure, on this screen,the customer specifies how many pages are to be added after a certainpage, and can change the template information regarding product page newaddition.

In FIG. 92, an example is shown of the item content setting screen ofthe “product page new addition”. As shown in the figure, on this screen,the customer specifies the replacement source product and thereplacement destination product, and can change the template informationregarding product replacement.

In FIG. 93, an example is shown of the item content setting screen ofthe “product addition”. As shown in the figure, on this screen, thecustomer specifies on what page, before/after which product, how (onlyimage, only text, or image+text), and what product is to be added, andcan change the template information regarding product addition.

In FIG. 94, an example is shown of the item content setting screen ofthe “product insertion”. As shown in the figure, on this screen, thecustomer specifies at what sequence number, on what page, the product ofa certain sequence number on a certain page is to be inserted, and canchange the template information regarding product insertion.

In FIG. 95, an example is shown of the item content setting screen ofthe “product change”. As shown in the figure, on this screen, thecustomer specifies on what page, the product with what sequence number,and how (only image, only text, or image+text), the product is to bechanged, and the customer can change the template information regardingproduct change.

In FIG. 96, an example is shown of the “automatic quotation” processingscreen which is performed after the above-described item content settingis complete. As shown in the figure, for each item, an item contentsetting, details thereof, a unit price, a quantity, and an amount aredisplayed, and a quotation is displayed in a tabular format in whichtotals thereof are displayed. If the customer is satisfied with thedisplayed quotation, he/she performs order-placing processing. If notsatisfied, he/she can perform item content setting once again.

For the subsequent processing after the order processing in the updateflow of the Web page creation support system according to the presentembodiment, an order-placing information entry is performed, articleconfirmation is performed, credit processing is performed aftertemporary order-placing, actual order-placing is performed, and the jobroom is set up in order to perform the Web page update processing. Ateach of these stages, the processing is performed in almost same manneras in the case of the Web page new creation processing, so that thedetailed description will be omitted.

As described above, the Web page creation support system according tothe present embodiment enables a client who wants to create the Webpages to create and update Web pages with his/her preferences withoutany stress by using the template information.

The display examples by a browser of the site are shown which form theWeb page creation support system according to the present embodiment.However, the present invention is not limited to these examples, but canbe configures in various formats in accordance with the site operator.

Although a preferred form of the Web page creation support systemaccording to the present embodiment has been described with reference tothe accompanying drawings, the present invention is not limited to thisexample. It is obvious to those skilled in the art that various changesor modifications may be made within the scope of the technical ideadescribed in the appended claims. Therefore, it will be understood thatall such modifications naturally fall within the scope of the technicalidea of the present invention.

INDUSTRIAL APPLICABILITY

According to the present invention, Web pages can be updated withreference to template information, thus update of Web pages on a networkcan be easily carried out.

1. A Web page creation support system having a customer terminal unitand a Web page creation support unit which can be accessed from thecustomer terminal unit and which can access a creator terminal unit, theWeb page creation support unit comprising: storage means for storingtemplate information of a Web page and sample image informationcorresponding to the template information; sending means for sending thetemplate information and the sample image information, which is selectedat the customer terminal unit, to the customer terminal unit; selectingmeans for selecting a creator terminal unit who matches an order-placingcondition of Web page creation from the customer terminal unit, whereinthe order-placing condition includes a delivery date and a Web pageimage selected by the customer terminal unit; and job room means forcreating a job room; for scheduling uploading of Web page informationfrom the creator terminal unit; for automatically notifying the creatorterminal unit to deliver the Web page information within a scheduledtimeframe; for checking the uploading status of the creator terminalunit; and for notifying the customer terminal unit of the uploadingstatus of the Web page creation job; the customer terminal unitcomprising: receiving means for receiving the sample image informationcorresponding to the selected desired template information from the Webpage creation support unit; and display means for displaying a previewscreen based on the sample image information.
 2. A Web page creationsupport unit which can be accessed from a customer terminal unit andwhich can access a creator terminal unit, comprising: storage means forstoring template information of a Web page and sample image informationcorresponding to the template information; sending means for sending thetemplate information and the sample image information, which is selectedat the customer terminal unit, to the customer terminal unit, andselecting means for selecting a creator terminal unit who matches anorder-placing condition of Web page creation from the customer terminalunit, wherein the order-placing condition includes a delivery date and aWeb page image selected by the customer terminal unit; job room meansfor creating a job room; for scheduling uploading of Web pageinformation from the creator terminal unit; for automatically notifyingthe creator terminal unit to deliver the Web page information within ascheduled timeframe; for checking the uploading status of the creatorterminal unit; and for notifying the customer terminal unit of theuploading status of the Web page creation job; wherein the templateinformation includes information which forms a preview screen to bedisplayed on the customer terminal unit using the sample imageinformation corresponding to the template information.
 3. A Web pagecreation support unit according to claim 2, further comprising acustomer information control part, wherein the customer informationcontrol part includes: registering means for registering the customerinformation received from the customer terminal unit; and permittingmeans for prohibiting display of the template information selectionscreen at the customer terminal unit until the customer information isregistered.
 4. A Web page creation support unit according to claim 2,wherein the template information includes Web page design information,item information to be displayed on the Web page, and item contentinformation contained in the item information.
 5. A Web page creationsupport unit according to claim 2, further comprising quotation meansfor performing quotation processing of a Web page creation cost inaccordance with the template information selected at the customerterminal unit.
 6. A Web page creation support unit according to claim 2,wherein the preview screen comprises a plurality of image files.
 7. AWeb page creation support unit according to claim 2, further comprisingmeans for displaying a prompt for order-placing processing at thecustomer terminal unit at the same time with or after display of thepreview screen at the customer terminal unit.
 8. A computer-readablestorage medium storing computer-executable program instructions which,when executed by a processor, perform a method for supporting Web pagecreation by a Web page creation support unit, the method comprisingstoring template information of a Web page and sample image informationcorresponding to the template information, selecting a creator terminalunit who matches an order-placing condition of Web page creation fromthe customer terminal unit, wherein the order-placing condition includesa delivery date and a Web page image selected by the customer terminalunit; sending the template information and the sample image information,which correspond to the selection by the customer terminal unit, to thecustomer terminal unit, and creating a job room, wherein the templateinformation includes information which forms a preview screen to bedisplayed on the customer terminal unit using the sample imageinformation corresponding to the template information, wherein theprocessor causes the job room to: schedule uploading of Web pageinformation from the creator terminal unit; automatically notify thecreator terminal unit to deliver the Web page information within ascheduled timeframe; check the uploading status of the creator terminalunit; and notify the customer terminal unit of the uploading status ofthe Web page creation job.
 9. The computer-readable storage mediumaccording to claim 8, wherein the Web page creation support unitcomprises a customer information control part, the customer informationcontrol part is caused to function as registering means for registeringthe requested customer information, and permitting means for prohibitingdisplay of the template information selection screen at the customerterminal unit until the customer information is registered.
 10. Thecomputer-readable storage medium according to claim 9, wherein the Webpage creation support unit is caused to function as quotation means forperforming quotation processing of a Web page creation cost inaccordance with the template information selected at the customerterminal unit.
 11. A Web page creation support method in a Web pagecreation support unit which can be accessed from a customer terminalunit and which can access a creator terminal unit, the methodcomprising: storing template information of a Web page and sample imageinformation corresponding to the template information; sending thetemplate information and the sample image information corresponding tothe selection of the customer terminal unit to the customer terminalunit, selecting a creator terminal unit who matches an order-placingcondition of Web page creation from the customer terminal unit, whereinthe order-placing condition includes a delivery date and a Web pageimage selected by the customer terminal unit; scheduling uploading ofWeb page information from the creator terminal unit; automaticallynotifying the creator terminal unit to deliver the Web page informationwithin a scheduled timeframe; checking the uploading status of thecreator terminal unit; and notifying the customer terminal unit of theuploading status of the Web page creation job, wherein the templateinformation includes information which forms a preview screen to bedisplayed on the customer terminal unit using the sample imageinformation corresponding to the template information.
 12. A Web pagecreation support method according to claim 11, wherein the Web pagecreation support unit further comprises a customer information controlpart, the method further comprising: registering the customerinformation received from the customer terminal unit in the customerinformation control part; and prohibiting display of the templateinformation selection screen at the customer terminal unit until thecustomer information is registered.
 13. A Web page creation supportmethod according to claim 11, further comprising quotation processing ofa Web page creation cost in accordance with the template informationselected at the customer terminal unit.
 14. A Web page creation supportsystem having a customer terminal unit and a Web page creation supportunit which can be accessed from the customer terminal unit, and whichcan access a creator terminal unit, the Web page creation support unitcomprising: storage means for storing template information of a Web pageand Web page image information corresponding to selected templateinformation; quotation means for performing quotation processing of aWeb page creation cost in accordance with the template informationselected at the customer terminal unit; sending means for sending thequotation information, which is generated by the quotation means, to thecustomer terminal unit, and selecting means for selecting a creatorterminal unit who matches an order-placing condition of Web pagecreation from the customer terminal unit, wherein the order-placingcondition includes a delivery date and a Web page image selected by thecustomer terminal unit; job room means for creating a job room; forscheduling uploading of Web page information from the creator terminalunit; for automatically notifying the creator terminal unit to deliverthe Web page information within a scheduled timeframe; for checking theuploading status of the creator terminal unit; and for notifying thecustomer terminal unit of the uploading status of the Web page creationjob; the customer terminal unit comprising: selection means forselecting desired template information from template informationselection screen for prompting selection of the template informationwhich is stored in the Web page creation support unit; receiving meansfor receiving the quotation information from the Web page creationsupport unit; and display means for displaying the received quotationinformation.
 15. A Web page creation support unit which can be accessedfrom a customer terminal unit and which can access a creator terminalunit, comprising: storage means for storing template information of aWeb page and Web page image information corresponding to selectedtemplate information; quotation means for performing quotationprocessing of a Web page creation cost in accordance with the templateinformation selected by the customer terminal unit; sending means forsending the quotation information, which is generated by the quotationmeans, to the customer terminal unit; and selecting means for selectinga creator terminal unit who matches an order-placing condition of Webpage creation from the customer terminal unit, wherein the order-placingcondition includes a delivery date and a Web page image selected by thecustomer terminal unit; job room means for creating a job room; forscheduling uploading of Web page information from the creator terminalunit; for automatically notifying the creator terminal unit to deliverthe Web page information within a scheduled timeframe; for checking theuploading status of the creator terminal unit; and for notifying thecustomer terminal unit of the uploading status of the Web page creationjob.
 16. A Web page creation support unit according to claim 15, furthercomprising a customer information control part, wherein the customerinformation control part includes: registering means for registering thecustomer information received from the customer terminal unit; andpermitting means for prohibiting display of the quotation information atthe customer terminal unit until the customer information is registered.17. A Web page creation support unit according to claim 15, wherein thetemplate information includes Web page design information, iteminformation to be displayed on the Web page, and item contentinformation contained in the item information.
 18. A Web page creationsupport unit according to claim 15, further comprising means fordisplaying a prompt for order-placing processing at the customerterminal unit at the same time with or after display of the quotationinformation at the customer terminal unit.
 19. A computer-readablestorage medium storing computer-executable program instructions which,when executed by a processor, perform a method for supporting Web pagecreation by a Web page creation support unit, the method comprising:storing template information of a Web page and Web page imageinformation corresponding to template information selected by thecustomer terminal unit; performing quotation processing of a Web pagecreation cost in accordance with the template information selected bythe customer terminal unit; sending the quotation information, which isgenerated by the quotation means, to the customer terminal unit; andselecting a creator terminal unit who matches an order-placing conditionof Web page creation from the customer terminal unit, wherein theorder-placing condition includes a delivery date and a Web page imageselected by the customer terminal unit; creating a job room; wherein theprocessor causes the job room to: schedule uploading of Web pageinformation from the creator terminal unit; automatically notify thecreator terminal unit to deliver the Web page information within ascheduled timeframe; check the uploading status of the creator terminalunit; and notify the customer terminal unit of the uploading status ofthe Web page creation job.
 20. The computer-readable storage mediumaccording to claim 19, further comprising display means for promptingorder-placing processing on the customer terminal unit at the same timewith or after display of the quotation information at the customerterminal unit.
 21. A Web page creation support method in a Web pagecreation support unit which can be accessed from a customer terminalunit and which can access a creator terminal unit, the methodcomprising: storing template information of a Web page and Web pageimage information corresponding to template information selected by thecustomer terminal unit; performing quotation processing of a Web pagecreation cost in accordance with the template information selected bythe customer terminal unit; sending the quotation information, which isgenerated by the quotation processing, to the customer terminal unit;selecting a creator terminal unit who matches an order-placing conditionof Web page creation from the customer terminal unit, wherein theorder-placing condition includes a delivery date and a Web page imageselected by the customer terminal unit; scheduling uploading of Web pageinformation from the creator terminal unit; automatically notifying thecreator terminal unit to deliver the Web page information within ascheduled timeframe; checking the uploading status of the creatorterminal unit; and notifying the customer terminal unit of the uploadingstatus of the Web page creation job.
 22. A Web page creation supportmethod according to claim 21, further comprising prompting order-placingprocessing on the customer terminal unit at the same time with or afterdisplaying the quotation information at the customer terminal unit. 23.A Web page creation support system having a customer terminal unit, acreator terminal unit, and a Web page creation support unit which can beaccessed from the customer terminal unit and the creator terminal unit,the Web page creation support unit comprising: storage means for storinginformation about the creator, template information of a Web page, andWeb page image information corresponding to selected templateinformation; staffing means for selecting a creator who matches anorder-placing condition of Web page creation from the customer terminalunit, wherein the order-placing condition includes a delivery date and aWeb page image selected by the customer terminal unit; and job roommeans for creating a job room; for scheduling uploading of Web pageinformation from the creator terminal unit; for automatically notifyingthe creator terminal unit to deliver the Web page information within ascheduled timeframe; for checking the uploading status of the creatorterminal unit; and for notifying the customer terminal unit of theuploading status of the Web page creation job.
 24. A Web page creationsupport unit which can be accessed from a customer terminal unit and acreator terminal unit, comprising: storage means for storing informationabout the creator, template information of a Web page, and Web pageimage information corresponding to selected template information;staffing means for selecting a creator who matches an order-placingcondition for Web page creation from the customer terminal unit, whereinthe order-placing condition includes a delivery date and a Web pageimage selected by the customer terminal unit; and job room means forcreating a job room, for scheduling uploading of Web page informationfrom the creator terminal unit; for automatically notifying the creatorterminal unit to deliver the Web page information within a scheduledtimeframe; for checking the uploading status of the creator terminalunit; and for notifying the customer terminal unit of the uploadingstatus of the Web page creation job.
 25. A Web page creation supportunit according to claim 24, further comprising registering means forregistering the creator information which is sent from the creatorterminal unit.
 26. A Web page creation support unit according to claim24, wherein the staffing means further comprising: allowing the customerterminal unit to select a creator who performs the Web page creationfrom a plurality of the selected creators.
 27. A computer-readablestorage medium storing computer-executable program instructions which,when executed by a processor, perform a method for supporting Web pagecreation by a Web page creation support unit, the method comprising:storing information about the creator, template information of a Webpage, and Web page image information corresponding to selected templateinformation; selecting a creator who matches an order-placing conditionof Web page creation from the customer terminal unit, wherein theorder-placing condition includes a delivery date and a Web page imageselected by the customer terminal unit; and creating a job room, whereinthe processor causes the job room to: schedule uploading of Web pageinformation from the creator terminal unit; automatically notify thecreator terminal unit to deliver the Web page information within ascheduled timeframe; check the uploading status of the creator terminalunit; and notify the customer terminal unit of the uploading status ofthe Web page creation job.
 28. A Web page creation support method in aWeb page creation support unit which can be accessed from a customerterminal unit and a creator terminal unit, the method comprising:registering information about the creator, template information of a Webpage, and Web page image information corresponding to selected templateinformation; selecting a creator who matches an order-placing conditionfor Web page creation from the customer terminal unit, wherein theorder-placing condition includes a delivery date and a Web page imageselected by the customer terminal unit; scheduling uploading of Web pageinformation from the creator terminal unit, automatically notifying thecreator terminal unit to deliver the Web page information within ascheduled timeframe; checking the uploading status of the creatorterminal unit; and notifying the customer terminal unit of the uploadingstatus of the Web page creation job.
 29. A Web page creation supportmethod in a Web page creation support unit which can be accessed fromthe customer terminal unit and the creator terminal unit, the methodcomprising: storing information about the creator terminal unit,template information of a Web page, and Web page image informationcorresponding to selected template information; order-receiving a Webpage creation request from the customer terminal unit, wherein the orderincludes a delivery date and a Web page image selected by the customerterminal unit; selecting a creator terminal unit who matches anorder-placing condition of Web page creation from the customer terminalunit; and establishing a job control part which controls the progressstatus of a Web page creation job in response to the order from thecustomer terminal unit, and the job control part controls the progressstatus of each Web page creation job in the customer terminal unit, thecreator terminal unit, and the Web page creation support unit,scheduling uploading of Web page information from the creator terminalunit, automatically notifying the creator terminal unit to deliver theWeb page information within a scheduled timeframe; checking theuploading status of the creator terminal unit; and notifying thecustomer terminal unit of the uploading status of the Web page creationjob.
 30. A Web page creation support unit which can be accessed from thecustomer terminal unit and the creator terminal unit, comprising:storage means for storing information about the creator terminal unit,template information of a Web page, and Web page image informationcorresponding to selected template information; selecting means forselecting a creator terminal unit who matches an order-placing conditionof Web page creation from the customer terminal unit, wherein theorder-placing condition includes a delivery date and a Web page imageselected by the customer terminal unit; job control means, forcontrolling the progress status of each Web page creation job in thecustomer terminal unit, the creator terminal unit, and the Web pagecreation support unit; for scheduling uploading of Web page informationfrom the creator terminal unit; for automatically notifying the creatorterminal unit to deliver the Web page information within a scheduledtimeframe; for checking the uploading status of the creator terminalunit; and for notifying the customer terminal unit of the uploadingstatus of the Web page creation job; and informing means for informingthe customer terminal unit and/or the creator terminal unit of themessage in accordance with the status change of the Web page creationjob.
 31. A computer-readable storage medium storing computer-executableprogram instructions which, when executed by a processor, perform amethod for supporting Web page creation by a Web page creation supportunit, the method comprising: storing information about the creatorterminal unit, template information of a Web page, and Web page imageinformation corresponding to selected template information; selecting acreator terminal unit who matches an order-placing condition of Web pagecreation from the customer terminal unit, wherein the order-placingcondition includes a delivery date and a Web page image selected by thecustomer terminal unit; controlling the progress status of each Web pagecreation job in the customer terminal unit, the creator terminal unit,and the Web page creation support unit; and informing the customerterminal unit and/or the creator terminal unit of the message inaccordance with the status change of the Web page creation job, whereinthe processor causes the job control means to: schedule uploading of Webpage information from the creator terminal unit; automatically notifythe creator terminal unit to deliver the Web page information within ascheduled timeframe; check the uploading status of the creator terminalunit; and notify the customer terminal unit of the uploading status ofthe Web page creation job.
 32. A Web page creation support method in aWeb page creation support unit which can be accessed from a customerterminal unit and a creator terminal unit, the method comprising:storing information about the creator terminal unit, templateinformation of a Web page, and Web page image information correspondingto selected template information; selecting a creator terminal unit whomatches an order-placing condition of Web page creation from thecustomer terminal unit, wherein the order-placing condition includes adelivery date and a Web page image selected by the customer terminalunit; controlling the progress status of each Web page creation job inthe customer terminal unit, the creator terminal unit, and the Web pagecreation support unit; and informing the customer terminal unit and/orthe creator terminal unit of the message in accordance with the statuschange of the Web page creation job, scheduling uploading of Web pageinformation from the creator terminal unit, automatically notifying thecreator terminal unit to deliver the Web page information within ascheduled timeframe; checking the uploading status of the creatorterminal unit; and notifying the customer terminal unit of the uploadingstatus of the Web page creation job.
 33. A Web page creation supportunit which can be accessed from a customer terminal unit and a creatorterminal unit, comprising: storage means for storing, in connection withtemplate information, Web page information which has been created by anorder of the customer terminal unit and Web page image informationcorresponding to selected template information; selecting a creatorterminal unit who matches an order-placing condition of Web pagecreation from the customer terminal unit, wherein the order-placingcondition includes a delivery date and a Web page image selected by thecustomer terminal unit; control means for controlling update of the Webpage based on an updated template information on the creator terminalunit by update request from the customer terminal unit; and job roommeans for creating a job room; for scheduling uploading of Web pageinformation from the creator terminal unit; for automatically notifyingthe creator terminal unit to deliver the Web page information within ascheduled timeframe; for checking the uploading status of the creatorterminal unit; and for notifying the customer terminal unit of theuploading status of the Web page creation job.
 34. A Web page creationsupport unit according to claim 33, wherein the Web page information iscontrolled corresponding to a job number which is assigned to eachprevious creation job of the Web page information.
 35. A Web pagecreation support unit which can be accessed from a customer terminalunit and a creator terminal unit, comprising: storage means for storingtemplate information of a Web page and Web page image informationcorresponding to selected template information; selecting means forselecting a creator terminal unit who matches an order-placing conditionof Web page creation from the customer terminal unit, wherein theorder-placing condition includes a delivery date and a Web page imageselected by the customer terminal unit; control means for controllingWeb page creation in accordance with the template information for thecreator terminal unit by the order of the customer terminal unit,wherein the Web page is guided to an option providing unit regarding theWeb page in response to the request of the customer terminal unit; andjob room means for creating a job room; for scheduling uploading of Webpage information from the creator terminal unit; for automaticallynotifying the creator terminal unit to deliver the Web page informationwithin a scheduled timeframe; for checking the uploading status of thecreator terminal unit; and for notifying the customer terminal unit ofthe uploading status of the Web page creation job.
 36. A Web pagecreation support unit according to claim 35, further comprisingperforming quotation processing of the Web page creation cost and theoption service cost before an actual order is received.